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Wyoming Voter Turnout Lags Averages; Could Access Reforms Help?

Dustin Bleizeffer

September 30, 2020 |

WyoFile |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Colorado’s election reforms have increased voter participation in local, state, and national races. Voters can register to vote online or in-person, even on election day, and eligibility is cross-checked with existing state agencies. State voter registration rolls track address changes, rather than automatically purging voter-roll. Every registered voter is mailed a ballot that can be returned by mail or dropped off at official sites. Turnout increased from 66% in 2008 to 72% in 2016 and was the second highest in the nation's 2018 midterm elections. Several other states have implemented Colorado’s reforms.

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Here Comes the Neighborhood

James Boo Cathy Erway Rochelle Kwan

September 29, 2020 |

Self Evident |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In New York's and San Francisco's Chinatowns, groups responding to anti-Asian hate crimes and harassment illustrate the tension between community-led public safety efforts that either rely on the police for assistance or actively avoid entanglement with the police because of a lack of community trust. The groups actively patrol streets and get to know residents and mediate disputes, maintaining a visible presence as a deterrent. There's no evidence they have reduced anti-Asian bias incidents, but residents of the two neighborhoods, mainly business owners, said both types of groups make them feel safer.

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2020 Changes Help Disabled, Blind Voters

Nick Isenberg

September 29, 2020 |

KDNK Community Radio |

Podcast |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Colorado

A Colorado system allows voters with disabilities to request an accessible ballot, which enables them to fill out their ballot online using a personal computer or a smart phone. This allows voters to maintain confidentiality in their voting selections rather than needing to have someone assist them in filling out their ballot. Voters can fill out their ballots online, using assistive technologies if necessary, and then print their ballot to either mail to their county clerk or drop off at an official ballot drop box in their county.

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Here's How Chicago Police Spent 4 Million Hours Of Anti-Violence Overtime

Elliott Ramos

September 29, 2020 |

WBEZ |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

As Chicago touts the latest in a series of anti-violence police units, a look back at the Violence Reduction Initiative launched in 2012 teaches lessons about how a program that claims credit for falling violence still might be termed a failure for its lack of focus and for the collateral damage it inflicts on a suffering community. VRI spent $4 million on police overtime to saturate 20 South and West Side areas, targeting not only illegal gun possession but a host of minor offenses, burdening mostly Black residents with parking fines and frequent police stops, alienating them from their protectors.

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The Obama Justice Department Had a Plan to Hold Police Accountable for Abuses. The Trump DOJ Has Undermined It.

Robert Faturechi

September 29, 2020 |

ProPublica |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

One of the most powerful tools used to reform policing practices, widely credited with restoring public faith in such troubled departments as the Los Angeles Police Department, is called a consent decree. The U.S. Justice Department sues cities where police abuses are seen as rampant. Then, under the watchful eye of a judge and independent monitor, the department agrees to a package of reforms. Under the Trump Justice Department, though, the tool has gone unused in new cases. In existing cases, the government has become passive, allowing cities to flout their agreements without consequence.

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Brokering peace on the South Side

Antonia Hylton

September 28, 2020 |

NBC News |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Outreach workers with CRED (Create Real Economic Destiny) in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood are paid under a city grant to de-escalate and mediate disputes among the same gangs that some of the workers once belonged to. Able to win the trust of people who distrust the police, CRED's violence prevention workers also provide therapy to trauma victims and job development help, in order to address the underlying causes of violence in a neighborhood where a lack of hope can breed a lack of respect for others' lives. Fatal shootings in Roseland are down by one-third while up elsewhere in Chicago.

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Why Detroit Might Be the True Test of Whether More Cameras Make Cities Safer

Sonia Paul

September 28, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In Detroit, Project Greenlight uses video surveillance technology to try to solve and deter street crime. Instead of the police requesting private security video after a crime occurs, businesses pay to install the Greenlight system, which then streams video live to police analysts. The police claim it has lowered crime, but researches have found no evidence that it affects violent crime rates. Critics see the system as a pay-to-play system in which businesses buy better police protection. And they say that the cameras, and the use of facial recognition software, bias enforcement against people of color.

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Black women legislators are rare in statehouses. This could be the solution.

Barbara Rodriguez

September 25, 2020 |

The 19th |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

A newly established PAC in Washington state aims to increase the likelihood of Black women being elected to Washington State Legislature by eliminating the financial barrier that often impedes candidates from running their campaigns on an equal playing field. Although it is yet to be seen how the elections will turn out, the PAC has already succeeded in fundraising over $200,000 and distributing those funds to various campaigns.

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Do We Need Police To Curb L.A.'s Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

Ryan Fonseca

September 24, 2020 |

LAist |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Five years after Los Angeles launched its Vision Zero program to reduce traffic fatalities, the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists killed on city streets have soared. By relying too heavily on the racially fraught and often ineffective practice of police stops of vehicles, and by not spending enough on street redesigns and automated enforcement technologies, L.A. has failed to make the kind of progress that cities like New York and Seattle have made with engineering innovations, stricter speed limits, and camera enforcement.

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The Big Dance: Saving the Great Bear Rainforest

Andrew MacLeod

September 24, 2020 |

The Tyee |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

Finding common ground between environmentalists, logging companies, and indigenous communities to protect the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada took years of discussion and even a dance at an Elton John concert. But these groups were able to negotiate an agreement to make 3.1 million hectares of rainforest off limits to logging, allow 500,000 hectares available for forestry, and strengthen First Nations rights. The process could be a model for what reconciliation can look like among competing interests.

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