The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/reforming-the-system/)
Every major police agency in the U.S. has an Office of Internal Affairs to identify corrupt or abusive officers. But by the time investigators step in, the damage is often done. Here’s one way to get ahead of the problem, suggested by a TCR columnist.
In an unprecedented longitudinal study conducted by Harvard researchers, the sociologists have uncovered that there’s a “birth lottery of history” — meaning that the social context of when someone comes of age influences criminality and arrest rates.
Serving in a special public interest legal corps for poor communities would replace the traditional bar exam for law school graduates under a proposal developed by legal scholars at Touro College.
Can U.S. prisons be more than violent warehouses? A pilot program launched in 2019 in Miami proves it’s possible, writes a resident who says being treated “humanely” has given him the confidence and skills he needs to rejoin civilian society.
Democrats and civil rights groups seek to make it easier to prosecute misconduct through a rarely-used federal statute that conservatives and police organizations say will target officers for good faith mistakes.
Advocacy groups in California say “displacement” programs to move homeless off the streets and into mental health services are criminalizing people who have been dislocated by unemployment or are suffering trauma.
In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court approved a groundbreaking move to release the names of police officers disciplined for misconduct. However, how far back they can reach into the past is still up for debate. Police reformers nevertheless say it is a “significant victory.”
The program, developed by Everytown For Gun Safety and What Works Cities, is aimed at reducing the burden of police who ordinarily respond to such calls. Organizers say each unique program will help save lives, and save cities money.
After an increase in non-fatal shootings in Detroit in 2020, more than $2 million is being awarded to Michigan organizations working to address inequities in the state’s criminal justice system.
Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch joined other members of an independent commission studying the impact of the pandemic at a webinar this week to call for a justice system that better balances public safety and public health.