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!
New York’s Civilian Complaint Review Board is weighing a proposal that would give it the power to probe sexual misconduct complaints against police ranging from verbal harassment to rape. Police unions counter that such complaints should be investigated internally by “trained, experienced” officials.
Efforts to shut down three homes for women in recovery in one Utah city highlight the challenges facing the formerly incarcerated as they struggle to resume normal life. “It’s hard for people who’ve never dealt with addiction to understand,” says Susan Berry, who moved into one of the homes following her recent release from prison.
State politicians who supported police reform and accountability measures could see future donations from law enforcement disappear. “We’re going to remember who was with us and we’re going to remember who wasn’t,” said Tom Daly, executive vice president of the New England Police Benevolent Association.
The pandemic has forced jails across the country to cut back on services like substance abuse counselling. For one inmate suffering from alcoholism and held in a Pittsburgh lockup, that proved fatal.
In a career spanning over 30 years in law enforcement, Marilyn Thompson has had to negotiate the complicated dynamic of being a Black woman among mostly white male colleagues. She believes policing would be more compassionate — and effective — if police departments reflected their communities.
Over 1,000 inmates have been infected in Alabama correctional facilities, along with more than 729 correctional workers. Advocates charge the state has “failed” to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on its prison population.
Fears of rising crime are persuading New York judges to transfer teens accused of violent offenses to adult courts. Advocates warn the practice undermines the point of legislation that aims to divert 16- and 17-year-olds from the criminal justice system and into programs that can address their underlying behavior.
A database in New York City holds genetic markers of more than 1,600 minors, many of whom have not committed crimes. Advocates and lawmakers have teamed up to stop what one calls a “rogue” operation, but police say their fears are overblown.
The Allegheny County Jail says its ban on print books from the outside, announced this week, was adopted for “security” reasons. Inmates will have to read new books on electronic tablets, but there are only 263 books, including 49 religious titles, available in the facility’s digital library.
Long before this year’s protests over police mishandling of mental health crisis calls, journalists began to examine CAHOOTS, a program in Eugene, Ore., that used community-based services as first responders in place of cops. You can read some of the most compelling accounts in the latest collection of stories about crime-reduction strategies archived by the Solutions Journalism Network.