Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 321 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

After Michigan Killings, Students Praised Shooter Drills. But Do They Really Work?

Dana Goldstein

December 02, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oxford, Michigan

Students at Oxford High School in Michigan, the scene of a mass shooting on Nov. 30, credit their active-shooter training with saving lives. But experts on school safety say some of the lessons taught in the training given to the OHS students, from a program called ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate), could endanger more people than they protect. The evidence that this and similar training is effective is quite thin, and critics fear it detracts from higher priorities: preventing, not just surviving, such shootings, and focusing on much more common forms of gun violence.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Police Have a Tool to Take Guns From Potential Shooters, but Many Aren't Using It

Zusha Elinson Dan Frosch

November 15, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have added red-flag laws in recent years. Also called extreme risk protection orders, or temporary risk protection orders, the laws give police and the public a way to seek a court order to confiscate the guns of a person deemed dangerous. San Diego County used available grant money from California to train police and prosecutors, and it now has used its state law more than any other county there. But many places in the U.S. use their laws rarely if ever, thanks to lack of interest or training among police and lack of awareness in the public.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Communities explore out-of-the-box mentorship programs to reduce gun violence

Patty Santos

November 10, 2021 |

KSAT-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

Richmond's Operation Peacemaker Fellowship pairs mentors with young people at risk of violence, paying the youth a stipend if they meet particular goals toward a more stable and safe life. The mentors are former gang members and others with criminal records who earn the trust of their clients through their experiences and independence from the police. Other cities have adopted this model or similar approaches to preventing gun violence. One study said the Richmond program may have contributed to a significant decline in violence in that city.

Read More
Go to Original Story
This anti-violence strategy has shown results. But Kansas City hasn't invested in it

Hurubie Meko

November 10, 2021 |

The Kansas City Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Aim4Peace is the city of Kansas City's violence prevention program using the Cure Violence model of "violence interrupters" to mediate disputes before they turn deadly. Founded 12 years ago, the program's fairly robust startup funding gave it 18 outreach workers in a neighborhood that enjoyed relatively few homicides at the time. After grants ran out, the city failed to increase its own spending on the program, and so it remains a small pilot program, reduced in size and blamed for its inability to do more. Other cities spend far more, and have much more success to show for it.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Lessons from a 'violence interrupter' as shootings continue to ravage Chicago

Deena Zaru

November 09, 2021 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Programs like UCAN Chicago use "violence interrupters" to mediate disputes before they turn violent and to connect people at risk of violence to the services that will give them a chance at a more stable, peaceful life. Decades after CeaseFire Chicago established this street-outreach approach to violence prevention, the work has been conducted mainly by former gang members and formerly incarcerated people with the credibility to reach the right people. Research on its effectiveness is mixed but promising, though the resources don't come close to meeting the need. This story profiles one Chicago worker.

Read More
Go to Original Story
These Philadelphians Created an App to Prevent Gun Violence

Maytal Eyal

November 04, 2021 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philly Truce is a mobile app that lets people in crisis ask for help from volunteer conflict mediators without involving the police. The app connects people to social services and to volunteers who can help ensure that a personal conflict does not turn violent. Two Philadelphia men with a modest investment launched the app in May 2021. Hundreds already have used it to de-escalate disputes or to volunteer to join the effort to reduce violence. The founders hope to expand the project to other cities.

Read More
Go to Original Story
To Fight Rising Murder Rate, More Cities Find, Mentor and Pay Likely Shooters

Zusha Elinson

October 27, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fresno, California

Advance Peace Fresno tries to turn youth away from violence through mentoring, job training, and by paying them a monthly stipend of up to $1,000 if they hit certain benchmarks in their rehabilitation. The program has recruited 19 young people for its fellowships, following a model that is associated with violence declines in Richmond and Sacramento, and is spreading to multiple other cities. Opponents of the stipends say the agency should not pay people to obey the law. But Advance Peace's strategy is based on using the promise of legitimate income to keep people engaged.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Philadelphia is fighting street violence through hospital and doctor visits

Dominique “Peak” Johnson

October 25, 2021 |

WURD |

Radio |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Healing Hurt People helps the survivors of gun violence and other assaults starting bedside in hospitals and continuing during a patient's recovery. The group, partnering with other services providers, treats mental trauma with cognitive therapies led by peer counselors – people with the street credibility that earns trust among the young people who are the target of these services. When people better understand their experience, they can learn from it and find safer, healthier ways to live.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Bronx tries new way to cure violence as US shootings surge

Joshua Chaffin

October 23, 2021 |

Financial Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence is a city-funded crew of "violence interrupters," former gang members or the formerly incarcerated who have enough street credibility to de-escalate disputes in ways the police often cannot. Founded in 2014, BRAG works in three "hot" zones, two of which have gone murder-free for more than five years. Such groups, using the Cure Violence public-health approach to gun-violence reduction, occupy an "uneasy niche in public safety" between the streets and police.

Read More
Go to Original Story
When Abusers Keep Their Guns

Jennifer Gollan

October 09, 2021 |

Reveal |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Starting in 1968, Congress has passed a series of laws, as have some states, stripping gun possession rights from people convicted of felonies or of domestic violence, or who are the subjects of restraining orders. But neither federal nor most state authorities do much to enforce the laws, relying instead on an honor system that often fails. Some places, like Washington's King County (Seattle), have done more to track who has guns they are barred from having. Thorough follow-up enables them to confiscate such guns in a process that can be less potentially violent than assumed.

Read More
Go to Original Story