How police are using cameras in school zones to catch speeders

Brazil’s Federal Police created a database of gold samples from different regions of the country to help confirm the origins of gold suspected to be illegally traded. Each sample is analyzed to understand its molecular composition, atomic structure, and morphological features. That information can be cross-referenced for matches with suspicious gold during investigations.

Lead-footed drivers are a problem everywhere, and cities around the world have struggled with ways to get vehicles to slow down, especially in dense areas where the risks to pedestrians are acute. One clever solution is popping up on numerous roads around the world: 3D decals on the pavement that look like floating blocks, speed bumps, or small children. The decals create an optical illusion that is proving to help slow down speedy drivers, and for a fraction of the cost of speed bumps or traffic cops.

Baltimore has dramatically reduced homicides through a multi-pronged approach involving a data-driven Group Violence Reduction Strategy, credible-messenger intervention programs, and aggressive prosecution of illegal gun possession. This has resulted in a record-low murder rate in 2026, with 60 killings recorded through August compared to roughly 220 at the same point four years prior.

An alternative response team in Durham, North Carolina, responds to certain 911 calls instead of the police to help people in crisis. Now, it’s working to improve the ways it connects those people with social services afterward.

Durham’s alternative crisis response team of social workers, HEART, responds to 911 calls to mitigate conflict on their own or with the police. The program is designed to keep everyone involved safe while preventing a situation from escalating to violence.

Durham, North Carolina, instated an alternative crisis response program that dispatches social workers to respond to 911 calls about people in mental health crises. The team’s successes earned the support of an initially skeptical police department.

Chicago public schools are changing how they approach discipline to prevent over-policing and the school-to-prison pipeline. Instead of automatic suspensions and out-of-school punishment, they’re focusing on restorative practices.

Jharkhand, India, created an awareness campaign about the laws related to human trafficking that reached all the ranks of the police department, the judiciary, and other relevant state departments. Now, the state has the country’s highest conviction rate for human trafficking.

The Citizens Foundation operates schools throughout Pakistan that are focused on student-led, interactive learning and problem-solving rather than rote memorization. The schools have a unique management approach that values feedback from staff at all levels, and the foundation charges families the same tuition rate no matter how many children they enroll. More than 57,000 children have graduated from TCF schools and roughly 90 percent go on to pursue higher education.

Through Chicago's early college high schools, which allow students to take college-level coursework while still working toward their diploma, about 600 students graduated this spring with at least 15 college credits, while 50 students earned a full associate's degree.