Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • I Cover Cops as an Investigative Reporter. Here Are Five Ways You Can Start Holding Your Department Accountable.

    Citizen watchdogs can hold local police accountable by using the tactics of investigative reporters that have successfully exposed systemic problems and sparked reforms. One reporter shares five approaches he’s used to hold up policies and practices to scrutiny, some of which led to positive change. He provides a how-to on learning the existing policies, obtaining public records, engaging influencers in honest dialog, presenting verified evidence in a fair format, and seeking allies to pressure for reform.

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  • Philly police should adopt this ethics program that reformed NOLA force

    Eight years after the New Orleans Police Department served as a model of how not to police, its Ethical Policing Is Courageous (EPIC) program has done more to dismantle the “blue wall of silence” than any other reforms. Citizen complaints and horrific examples of brutality have gone down while citizen satisfaction has risen. Now the training of officers in “peer intervention” is spreading nationwide, empowering street officers schooled in the use of peer pressure to stand up to misconduct without fear of retaliation.

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  • KCPD crime-fighting strategy sees success in first year

    Kansas City Police Department used a crime-prevention strategy called the risk-terrain model to target and neutralize crime magnets, a low-cost approach associated with a 24% decrease in violence in areas where it was used in its first year. The method blends data sophistication with support from other agencies and community groups to modify environmental features that make crime more likely, say a bus stop notorious for drug dealing. Researchers from Rutgers University documented the city’s savings from the crime reduction at $3 million.

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  • When Mental Health Crises Arise, Columbus Police Brings Social Workers Along

    In Columbus, Ohio, a team of police officers and mental health professionals responds together to police calls in an effort to promote community-oriented policing. The approach has reduced arrests and helped to connect residents with social services and medical help.

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  • Inspiring Tale of a Chicago Neighborhood That Would Not Die

    Community members and local organizations on the South side of Chicago collaborate to reclaim their neighborhoods from crime, violence, and poverty by engaging in community conflict resolution, policing and networks of support. Groups like the Southwest Organizing Project and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network banded together to interrupt gang violence in the city, relying on the experience of former gang members and offenders to guide the organizations' missions for non-violence in their communities.

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  • Chicago Police Hope To Build Trust With Experiment In Community Policing

    Chicago police have rebuilt some of the trust they lost in one part of the city, where the police department has used private funding to launch a community-policing program. In the department's 25th district, residents get to know their neighborhood officers and can call them directly, something they did 20,000 times in just the first nine months of the pilot project. "Community ambassadors" serve as liaisons between officers and neighbors who are leery of connecting with the police whose department's brutality and misconduct strained relations over many years. The city is working to expand the program.

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  • The police experiment that changed what we know about foot patrol

    Of the three most notable experiments testing the effectiveness of police foot patrols at reducing crime, only one – the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment – showed a significant reduction in violence, thanks to a three-month randomized controlled trial. By rethinking an old practice and infusing it with data-driven thinking about focusing on "hot spots," the Philadelphia brand of foot patrols debunked the myth that patrol might, at best, only improve community relations without having an effect on crime. But random car patrols, reacting mainly to radio calls, remains the dominant approach nationwide.

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  • 'The woods, they hide so much': Animal Cruelty out of sight out of mind?

    To address animal cruelty in Pennsylvania, a team of law enforcement officers are receiving special training to better identify and prosecute the guilty. This effort gives limited enforcement powers to those trained and allows them to be hired by animal welfare groups to serve search warrants, charge and arrest those involved, and appear in court.

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  • Seattle's already doing what California's about to do to limit police use of force. How's it working out?

    In the past decade, Seattle has reduced their use of force by 60 percent. Spurred by a court order, the reduction comes from greater de-escalation training, stricter, more nuanced policies, and more collaboration between law enforcement and activists. While moving the needle, many cite the long way the city has to go, especially when it comes to how force is still used disproportionately on communities of color. But because they’ve made progress without endangering officers, other states like California look to Seattle as a model of reform.

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  • What California can learn from Seattle about police shootings

    Seattle has taken a comprehensive approach to police reform, including forming a community police commission, the development of policies on appropriate weapon use, more oversight on police force, and the creation of a specialty unit that focuses on mental health. While there has been pushback from officers, the safety of officers hasn’t been compromised and the use of force has decreased by sixty percent. With some calling it a success, California seeks to implement similar reform at the state level.

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