Author: scott prell

Report: Seattle police stop Black people, Native Americans at far higher rate than white people | The Seattle Times

There is a 54 page report referenced in the narrative with a link. Unfortunately there is a paywall but it does all a few free views.

A new report from the Los Angeles-based Center for Police Equity found that Black people, per capita, were seven times more likely to be subjected to force by Seattle police…
— Read on www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/report-black-people-and-native-americans-get-stopped-by-seattle-police-at-a-far-higher-rate-than-white-people/

Targeted Fines and Fees Against Low-Income Communities of Color: Civil Rights and Constitutional Implications

The excessive imposition of fines and fees can damage judicial credibility and the relationships between law enforcement and residents. In the effort to raise revenue through fines and fees, municipalities in effect discount concerns about the judicial system’s role in our “country’s commitment to the principles of fundamental fairness and to ensuring that the scales of our legal system measure justice, not wealth.’” Chief among these concerns are the harms to due process and judicial ethics issues that arise when states depend too heavily on court fees, potentially conflicting with judicial independence, and diverting attention from courts’ essential functions. Additionally, some state legislatures throughout the country are not properly funding local courts, which leaves local courts to bring in revenue to support their operating budgets, undermining the public’s faith in the justice system. The reliance on revenue from fines and fees distorts incentives and can lead to the misallocation of public safety resources. The recent increase in using private companies to collect fines and fees further exacerbates these issues.

www.usccr.gov/pubs/docs/Statutory_Enforcement_Report2017.pdf

Baltimore City Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan

Baltimore City is wrestling with multiple public health crises: the global COVID-19 pandemic and local epidemics of gun violence and preventable overdose deaths. Since 2015, Baltimore has seen more than 300 homicides per year—the overwhelming majority of which were gun-related. In 2020, there were 954 opioid-related overdose deaths in Baltimore.

Historically, Baltimore has over-relied on the 3Ps – policing, prosecutions, and prisons – in an attempt to reduce violence and strengthen community safety. This strategy has not only failed to yield long- term results, it has also come at an extremely high social cost to many of our most vulnerable communities.

Never before has Baltimore developed a holistic public safety strategy, one that aims to treat gun violence as a public health crisis and operationalizes what Baltimore residents want to see from their City government. Furthermore, the City has never developed a multi-year plan to reduce violence in a sustainable way over time, not just for a year or two.

mayor.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/MayorScott-ComprehensiveViolencePreventionPlan-1.pdf

Seattle OIG – Office of Inspector General

Make sure to explore the various different webpages or tabs at the OIG site. The “Sentinel Event Review” is a report on the response to the Floyd Protests/Riots. The Reports page has various topical reports and memorandum. The audits page contains performance audits that examine critical systems, practices, and policies within the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the Office of Police Accountability (OPA).

Check it out HERE

Safety For All – TransitCenter

This is a report on how less Law Enforcement can make mass transit safer.

“Safety For All” chronicles how agencies like BART in San Francisco, TriMet in Portland, and SEPTA in Philadelphia are addressing safety concerns by hiring unarmed personnel, developing high profile anti-harassment campaigns, and better connecting vulnerable riders to housing and mental health services. These interventions also allow transit police to spend less time on “quality of life” offenses and focus more attention on the core mission of deterring violence.
— Read on transitcenter.org/publication/safety-for-all/