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

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  • Police face a 'crisis of trust' with Black motorists. One state's surprising policy may help.

    A new Virginia law restricts when the police can stop motorists, limiting the chances for inequitable law enforcement. Barred from stopping vehicles based on minor infractions like a broken taillight, police in the first four months under the new law sharply reduced their stops of Black motorists. Police say such stops are a key tactic for getting guns, drugs, and dangerous people off the streets. But they also can be racially motivated, disproportionately punish people of color, and lead to violent confrontations. Many states and cities are considering dialing back traffic enforcement for these reasons.

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  • Before George Floyd's Death, Minneapolis Police Failed to Adopt Reforms, Remove Bad Officers

    The Minneapolis Police Department’s repeated failures to reform a broken police-discipline system underscore the lack of public trust that exploded in local and nationwide protests after an officer with a troubled record killed a handcuffed suspect. An analysis of police-reform efforts in the city, and statewide, show how vows to do better have been undermined by official reluctance to remove bad officers from duty, either through administrative or legislative failure. Among the unaddressed problems: a "coaching" system that allows officers to avoid suspension but is riddled with problems.

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  • Desperate for Recruits, Police Consider Non-Citizens

    As police departments across the country face a shortage in recruitments, states like Tennessee and Colorado have lifted the ban on non-citizens from becoming officers. As a result, jurisdictions that allow this have not only seen an increase in recruits, but a more diverse force that can represent their communities. Politicians and members of law enforcement across the country seek to do the same.

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  • Is the Answer to Crime More Cops?

    As cities across the United States grapple with the decline in law enforcement applications and officers, New York is adapting by using a workload allocation model to figure out the number of police officers actually needed and in what positions. While other cities, like Memphis, seek private funding to hire more police officers – a model that hasn’t shown demonstrably to decrease crime.

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  • Yelp for Cops

    Police in New York already use algorithms to fight crime and now they have turned to a tech startup that uses algorithms to gauge trust levels towards citizens. The so-called “sentiment meter” is meant to address where police are falling short with the community and it has garnered the interest of police departments in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Grand Rapids, Mich., as well. But some are skeptical of the data methods and what they are actually measuring.

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  • Taking Police Reform to Trump Country

    The sheriff of Volusia County, Florida, Michael Chitwood, has instituted reform across the conservative county. With a frank and honest demeanor, Chitwood has put into place measures like de-escalation training and requiring officers to keep their body cameras on at all times. While many of his policies receive pushback from fellow officers, the community has responded well to his balance between being tough on crime and providing space for redemption and forgiveness.

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  • How a Police Detective Helps Inmates Prepare to Live on the Outside

    In the United States, the incarcerated feel like they have no voices and their mistakes that led them to jail go unacknowledged. A documentary film spotlights the IF Project, a writing program that encourages female inmates and recently released felons to write down what they would have done to change the path they went on. With police and teachers as mentors, the convicted have support transitioning into society and can reflect on what they can do to change their lives for the better.

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  • The ‘Chicago Model' of Policing Hasn't Saved Chicago

    Chicago suffers from violence and tension between police officers and low-income predominantly Black communities. In 2011, the chief of police consulted with a network of university academics and began implementing “procedural justice,” which was an approach that trained police departments to surmount the lack of confidence that residents felt towards officers. The academics and police chief found that by directing social workers to the homes of at-risk community members, and regarding them with respect, there was a reduction in violence—but now the program has stalled.

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