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Police Have a Tool to Take Guns From Potential Shooters, but Many Aren't Using It

Zusha Elinson Dan Frosch

November 15, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have added red-flag laws in recent years. Also called extreme risk protection orders, or temporary risk protection orders, the laws give police and the public a way to seek a court order to confiscate the guns of a person deemed dangerous. San Diego County used available grant money from California to train police and prosecutors, and it now has used its state law more than any other county there. But many places in the U.S. use their laws rarely if ever, thanks to lack of interest or training among police and lack of awareness in the public.

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Why Albuquerque's latest experiment in policing doesn't involve officers

Henry Gass

November 12, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque established a new city department, Albuquerque Community Safety, that handles some of the 200,000 calls to 911 every year for a range of low-level, non-violent problems that don't require a police response. Since its launch in August 2021, the department has fielded just two teams of behavioral health specialists on call during the day. The city plans to expand the team's hours and responsibilities, though some are uneasy about exposing the unarmed workers to the potential for violence. The city has a long history of police shootings of mentally ill people, and ACS is meant to curb that threat.

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In Portsmouth police reforms, some see 'model' for other communities

Paul Cuno-Booth

November 02, 2021 |

Granite State News Collaborative |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Residents, community leaders, and the Police Commission came together to instate police reforms. Data will now be collected from every police stop of a civilian to provide a better understanding of who is being stopped and how that effects the entire criminal justice system.

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Taking Mental Health Crises Out of Police Hands

Jenee Darden

November 01, 2021 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Until Oakland joins the list of cities sending counselors and social workers on emergency calls concerning mental health crises, a grassroots program called Mental Health First is diverting a small number of emergencies from police involvement to a community-based response. Hundreds of volunteers, many with their own experiences with mental illness and crises, answer dozens of calls per month in which they de-escalate, counsel, and direct people to needed services – all without the threat that a misunderstood person could be harmed by police untrained in correctly handling such crises.

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Orlando man's 7th arrest in 7 years raises questions about mental competency system

Erik Sandoval

October 29, 2021 |

WKMG-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Orlando, Florida

Orange County, Florida, courts have ordered thousands of mental-competency hearings in recent years to test whether criminal defendants are mentally capable of facing charges. If they are not, they get released, leaving mental illnesses untreated and leading to repeat cycles of arrest and release that sap public resources and threaten public safety. Miami-Dade’s Criminal Mental Health Project offers a more effective model, in which police officers are trained to call in mental health professionals who can get the person into treatment rather than jail.

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How a Cincinnati domestic violence survivor got the help she needed to break the cycle

Cameron Knight

October 25, 2021 |

Cincinnati Enquirer |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dvert is a partnership between Cincinnati police and Women Helping Women, a social services agency that puts domestic-violence survivors in touch with an advocate from the moment they report abuse. Advocates can provide for survivors' immediate needs, including childcare and safe shelter. They provide counseling and support to survivors throughout the prosecution of a case, should the survivor choose to pursue that remedy. More women have found the strength to pursue prosecutions, which advocates hope will ultimately keep more women safer than if they drop a complaint and reconcile with an abusive partner.

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A ‘shoot to incapacitate' policy puts Georgia police chief and town in the spotlight

Jamie Thompson

October 24, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, LaGrange, Georgia

The police chief in majority-Black LaGrange, Georgia, thinks the standard shoot-to-kill training police receive is unnecessarily lethal and lies at the heart of the breach in police-community trust. So he has trained his department's officers with a Shoot to Incapacitate strategy to give them an alternative when confronted by someone not armed with a gun. The department's skeptics were won over, and one managed to save the life of a machete-wielding man by the way he shot him. External critics say this approach is impractical, though it was copied from what's worked in other countries.

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Police Say Jiu-jitsu Can Make Them Less Violent During Arrests

Jamiles Lartey

October 22, 2021 |

The Marshall Project |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Marietta, Georgia

Police recruits in Marietta since 2019 have been required to be trained in the martial art of jiu-jitsu before they can go on patrol. Many officers stick with the training, and many other police departments are copying Marietta's policies. Supporters argue that jiu-jitsu, which involves no kicking or hitting, gives officers greater control and confidence in confrontations with potentially violent people. That, they claim, will lead to fewer uses of deadly force or Tasers. Marietta data shows that fewer officers have been injured, but members of the public get injured at about the same rate.

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Tool for police reform rarely used by local prosecutors

Martha Bellisle

October 21, 2021 |

Associated Press |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

A growing number of prosecutors compile lists of police officers deemed untrustworthy witnesses, information they disclose to defense lawyers to prevent unjust criminal convictions. Called "Brady lists" or "do not call" lists, the practice is arguably a constitutional requirement for a fair trial. Broad disclosure of such a list in Philadelphia led to the dismissal of more than 2,000 convictions. Yet many prosecutors fail to keep such lists or ignore categories of misconduct like the use of excessive force. Police unions and privacy laws have helped block the effective use of Brady lists in some places.

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Plagued by fighting and other disturbances, RCSD reconsiders police presence

Justin Murphy

October 19, 2021 |

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Rochester, New York

During the 2020 social justice protests, Rochester city school leaders quickly acted to remove police officers from the schools. A long-time goal of school-discipline reformers, ending the use of school resource officers was meant to create openings for responses to student violence other than arrest or suspension. Eighteen months later, the school superintendent sought to increase a police presence in schools in light of a rise in fights among students. Reform advocates accused the district of failing to follow through with effective alternatives to the punitive responses to discipline problems.

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