The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/focus/)
This section features the best criminal justice reporting around the nation, produced by our media partners and collaborators, and journalists who have participated in the Criminal Justice Reporting Fellowship programs sponsored by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, TCR’s parent organization. For a more comprehensive list of Fellows’ work, please check out the “programs” section—and monitor this site for information on upcoming programs and how to apply!
Since September, teams of behavioral health specialists in New Mexico’s largest city have been the first responders to nonviolent 911 calls that once required police presence. Supporters say Albuquerque’s Community Safety unit is an example of an emerging “hybrid” approach that could change public safety in America.
True-crime podcasts have been hosted mostly by investigative journalists, comedians and other media personalities. But after California police used one to track down a runaway suspected killer in Mexico, other law enforcement agencies have embraced the medium as a more effective tool for solving cold cases than “Wanted” posters.
A program for young felony offenders steers New Yorkers like Nasheem Heath away from a prison term that could derail their lives.
“Paws for Life” pairs incarcerees with dogs from high-kill shelters in a mutual rehabilitation program. Prisoners who participate have a high rate of early release.
Dallas has reduced hospitalization and incarceration with a program that sends social workers and clinicians along with police to answer mental health-related 911 calls. But some critics say the presence of police sends the wrong message.
The residential and employment program on a North Carolina organic farm helps formerly incarcerated women find a new path.
A rural Arizona town transformed an underused juvenile facility into a safe space for teens. Could other towns do the same?
Malmö became the first city in Sweden to implement an anti-violence strategy based on the American model of group violence intervention. Since the program was launched in 2018, severe violence has declined.
A California farm town fights youth violence aided by a police-community outreach program that gives violent young men “a legitimate opportunity to participate in society in a meaningful way,” in the words of the local police chief.
Grassroots violence intervention programs like Seattle’s Community Passageways offer counselling and mediation to young men at the center of the nation’s rise in homicides. “We’re saving people,” says neighborhood volunteer DeShaun Nabors.