Crisis Text Line has counseled teens through nearly 2 million problems. Here's how this idea got its start.

http://blog.ted.com/crisis-text-line-nears-2-million-messages-answered

Kate Torgovnick May

TED Blog

6 May 2014

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Crisis Text Line provides counseling services via text, a medium with which teens are sometimes more comfortable. The approach complements the work of counselors and collects data for research purposes.

Behind LA's dramatic decline in gang violence

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/gang-violence-decline_n_6656840.html?cps=gravity_2659_7317138142693194709

Ann Brenoff

The Huffington Post

24 February 2015

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In the past, Los Angeles was a dangerous city fraught with gang wars. Lately, though, LA has become a safer city due to six changes enforced by the police cracking down on public violence and gangs.

Freelance Nation: “The Greatest Economic Transformation in Human History”?

http://www.wnyc.org/story/freelance-nation-greatest-economic-transformation-human-history

Manoush Zomorodi

WNYC

16 October 2013

Radio / Over 15 Minutes

The 2008 recession’s job losses spurred a development of a Do-It-Yourself economy. With the advent of Uber, Etsy, Airbnb, and others, the marketplace has become full of micro-entrepreneurs who thrive with independent web-assisted businesses.

Gay and Lesbian Liaison Police Unit

http://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/ideas-we-should-steal-gay-and-lesbian-liaison-police-unit

Emma Eisenberg

The Philadelphia Citizen

1 August 2015

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Crimes against LGBT citizens have gone underreported in many U.S. cities. Washington DC’s Gay and Lesbian Liason Unit has employed and trained LGBT officers to represent community members that they protect and serve. After the establishment of the GLLU, the number of reported crimes has increased, demonstrating the comfort and trust that the community has with law enforcement.

Houston's solution to mental health system problems offers a case study for Milwaukee

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/houstons-solution-to-mental-health-system-problems-offers-a-case-study-for-milwaukee-b9928490z1-210715811.html

Meg Kissinger

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

8 June 2013

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In Houston, TX, many individuals with mental illnesses cycled in and out of emergency care while arrested or incarcerated. Houston’s police department has decreased the number of incarcerated who have mental illness by opening a division to mental health called the Chronic Consumer Stabilization Unit. Now Milwaukee seeks to replicate Houston’s results.

How can Milwaukee County's broken mental health system be fixed?

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/chronic-crisis-how-can-milwaukee-countys-broken-mental-health-system-be-fixed-229974841.html

Meg Kissinger

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

5 November 2013

Text / Under 800 Words

Milwaukee County’s mental health system put more resources in expensive emergency care rather than invest in programs that offer continual care. As a result, Milwaukee County identifies nine solutions from other cities that have had success in repairing mental health systems. Solutions include the ending of reliance on emergency care, expand community support programs, change laws, and supportive housing.

How Cincinnati Revitalized Police-Community Relations

http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/policing-police-how-cincinnati-police-community-relations

John Hockenberry

The Takeaway

25 June 2014

Podcast / 5-15 Minutes

After a policeman shot and killed a teenage African American, a community in Cincinnati blamed law enforcement for racial profiling and riots expanded throughout the city. With the help of the Department of Justice as a mediator, Cincinnati made policy changes. The city now has an African American Police Association that brings police officers in communication with representatives of communities.

How cities are searching for solutions among massive mounds of data

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-cities-are-searching-for-solutions-among-massive-mounds-of-data/article23131733

John Lorinc

The Globe and Mail

20 February 2015

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New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.

How Conservative, Tough-On-Crime Utah Reined In Police Militarization

http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/how-conservative-tough-on-crime-utah-reined-in-police-milita

Evan McMorris-Santoro

Buzzfeed

1 September 2014

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The militarization of police forces in cases such as Ferguson, Missouri’s riots has led the state of Utah to question what can be done to prevent such an overuse of force from happening. Utah expanded upon a law passed by Democratic legislature in Maryland, which Utah’s ACLU reworked with some libertarians, to require the police to provide data about SWAT team usage. Utah’s success demonstrates that demilitarization bills passed with bipartisan support are not impossible.

How one city cut violent crime by 60 percent

http://www.fayobserver.com/article/20131222/News/312229757

Greg Barnes

Fayetteville Observer

22 December 2013

Text / Under 800 Words

Areas of High Point, North Carolina have suffered from crime, poverty, and neglect, until the city began implementing Operation Ceasefire, a policing program that uses data collecting, community support against crime. High Point is now leading the country in its success of Operation Ceasefire, boasting dramatic reductions in violent crimes, domestic abuse, robberies, and drug-related offenses.