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As Canadian police grapple with hate crimes, a wave of reforms are improving how some handle incidents

Mike Hager

April 11, 2022 |

The Globe and Mail |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

Canadian police departments are introducing reforms to better handle hate crimes. Victims are offered support services and are kept informed about the ongoing police investigation.

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From scandal to scrutiny: How intense citizen oversight reshaped Oakland police

Nigel Duara

April 06, 2022 |

CalMatters |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Since 2016, complaints filed against Oakland police officers have triggered parallel investigations by both the department's internal affairs unit and the city's Civilian Police Review Agency. When an outcome is disputed, the final decision is made by the Civilian Police Commission, a system that has resulted in the city sustaining complaints against officers at a rate more than double the state average between 2018 and 2020.

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Is Brazilian jiujitsu making policing safer for everyone?

Mary Hall Dray Clark

March 03, 2022 |

NewsNation |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

The St. Paul Police Department is one of a growing number of such departments which have integrated training in Brazilian jiujitsu for officers as a way to reduce not just civilian injuries but also the amount of money spent on lawsuit settlements as a result of police misconduct.

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Black students fought to defund school police in LA and hire mental health counselors instead

Aaricka Washington

February 01, 2022 |

Capital B (National) |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

After a period of backpack searches and police pepper-spraying students, Students Deserve, a youth-led activist group, pushed for the Los Angeles Unified School District to withdraw all funding for school police and divert it to mental health support for Black students. The school board approved a plan to cut one third of the school police budget, roughly around $25 million, and instead use it to fund “221 psychiatric social workers, counselors, “climate coaches,” and restorative justice advisers to schools with the highest number of Black students.”

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How a Newark Program Is Pushing Police and Community Members to Heal Old Wounds Together

J. Brian Charles

January 11, 2022 |

The Trace |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

To address deep divisions and mistrust between the community and police, Newark launched Trauma to Trust, a conflict resolution program that brings officers and residents together for mediation and discussion. Participants receive two days of training around trauma, critical race theory, and implicit bias, and more than 500 people have taken part since the initiative began.

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Santa Fe's once-vaunted diversion program for people with addictions has dwindled to nearly nothing

Ted Alcorn

December 22, 2021 |

Santa Fe Reporter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Fe, New Mexico

One of the nation's first programs using police officers to get people into drug treatment instead of jail succeeded at first, and inspired other programs throughout New Mexico. But the original Santa Fe program now serves as a lesson in what can all but kill such a program, thanks to a leadership vacuum and mistakes that undercut the cultural change needed within a police department. Like the first program of its kind, in Seattle, Santa Fe's LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) program takes aim at people whose drug abuse deeply entangles them in the justice system when what they need is treatment.

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Burlington, Vt., ‘defunded' its police force. Here's what followed.

Emily R. Siegel Hannah Rappleye Stephanie Gosk

December 19, 2021 |

NBC News |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Burlington, Vermont

In Burlington, a city of progressive politics with a police department long seen as forward-looking, city leaders' decision in June 2020 to respond to social-justice protests by cutting the police force by 30% has backfired in a number of ways. By moving quickly without an analysis of optimal staffing or how to shift duties to other agencies, the "defund police" measure prompted more police resignations than expected. Residents complain about conditions on downtown streets that make them feel unsafe. The city has since restored some of the police positions while moving more deliberately toward alternatives.

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How role-playing helps police do their job without firing their guns

Caren Chesler

December 12, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Training courses based on role-playing that supplement classroom teaching have helped some police departments reduce incidents of unnecessary use of lethal force. In response to protests over police shootings, more departments are using a variety of courses that train officers to seek alternatives to shooting when they perceive a threat. The most expensive and intensive course uses live actors. Others use video and virtual reality headsets. The key to effectiveness is the realism of a training that lets officers repeatedly act out the lessons so that they become second nature.

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'It seemed like our lives didn't matter'

Margaret Coker

November 30, 2021 |

The Current (Georgia) |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Glynn County, Georgia

The murder of Ahmaud Arbery sparked nationwide rage, but the people most affected by local racism felt it most keenly. A Better Glynn formed to seek reforms in Glynn County law enforcement after years of status-quo racism and resistance to change. The group worked with an existing group of Black pastors and other leaders and found success in the firing of the police chief, his replacement by the county's first Black chief, the district attorney's reelection defeat, and the beginnings of police reforms.

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St. Paul police credit jiu-jitsu training for reducing injuries — and excessive force settlements

Mara H. Gottfried

November 28, 2021 |

Twin Cities Pioneer Press |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Paul, Minnesota

When St. Paul police studied controversial cases in which officers used physical force, they found troubling examples that were products of the training given to officers. So they began training new and veteran officers to use tactics inspired by the Brazilian martial art jiu-jitsu, which prizes teamwork by two officers to use leverage to restrain resistant people rather than using brute force, weapons, or chemicals. In the six years after the training began, St. Paul officers used force far less often, injured far fewer people, and cost the city much less money in settlements payments.

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