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A new approach to homelessness | 48 hillsAdvocates release plan that involves taking primary response to calls away from the police.

San Francisco proposal would create non-police response to homelessnessThe Compassionate Alternate Response Team seeks to route certain calls regarding homeless San Franciscans away from police.

San Francisco considering deescalation program to better help homelessSan Francisco may take bold steps to deescalate confrontations between police and the homeless, as a new proposal under consideration calls for a new team of compassionate emergency responders.

'Guy lay dead here and no one noticed': What happened to supposedly compassionate San Francisco?How did hundreds of San Franciscans pass by a body on a city street and do nothing? And...

Community organizers and Police Commission announce civilian team to replace police in responding to homelesness-related calls - Mission LocalCity could replace police response to homelessness calls with a civilian team by May 2021.

Advocates propose model for community-based response to homelessness - The San Francisco ExaminerPlan to divert calls from police could save as much as $11 million, group argues

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Oakland is Ready to Reimagine Public Safety — APTP

Responding to Homelessness With Law Enforcement Ineffective, Researchers Say - San Francisco Public PressResearchers at the Urban Institute have been looking into how effective various responses to homelessness are. In a series of blog posts, they issue a warning against a punitive response to homelessness and recommend other ways to respond to homelessness, especially in the context of the coronavirus pandemic that threatens millions of people’s livelihoods and housing stability.

Oakland Activists Launch Mental Health Hotline as Alternative to Police - San Francisco Public PressIn response to the disproportionate law enforcement violence against people with mental illness and amid ongoing calls to defund or reform police, activists with the Anti Police-Terror Project on Friday night will launch an initiative in Oakland designed to offer an alternative to calling the police in mental health crises. The initiative, called M.H. First Oakland, will begin operations as a hotline with the number (510) 999-9MH1.

Many cities are rethinking the police, but what are the alternatives?Investments, institutions and decriminalization all are strategies that can reduce the mandate of police and be more effective in addressing certain “offenses” than the criminal justice solution. This post explores police alternatives for cities, dividing them into three groups: health, relationships and community patrol.

What happens when SF takes homeless people’s ‘stuff’ - The San Francisco ExaminerSuper Bowl 50 was supposed be Mayor Ed Lee’s touchdown. The crass, corporate pièce de résistance in downtown San Francisco known as Super Bowl City would delight family members of all ages. RELATED: COMPLETE SF EXAMINER HOMELESS COVERAGE Yet the streets already hosted encampments of hundreds. Those living there were not exactly ready for theRead more...

Cited for Being in Plain Sight: How California Policies Being Black, Brown, and Unhoused in Public - Fines and Fees Justice CenterThis report is a detailed analysis of non-traffic infraction data from California which shows that minorities are cited at higher rates than White people.

Oakland plan to replace police with mental health workers in disarrayEight months after city set aside $1.85 million to replace officers with mental health...

Ithaca mayor proposes replacing IPD with Community Solutions and Public Safety Dept.ITHACA, NY -- The Reimagining Public Safety Collaborative of the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County, N.Y., published a draft report in response to New York State Executive Order 203

SF Police Commission approves sweeping new policy on community policing - Mission LocalThe Police Commission on Wednesday passed a sweeping revision to the San Francisco Police Department’s community policing policy, a major milestone in the

Police reform: Has the moment passed us by? - Mission LocalEvery speaker at a Tuesday night panel on San Francisco police reform and accountability agreed: Police conduct, policy, accountability, discpline and

Should I Call The Police About A Person Experiencing Homelessness?Calling 911 can often do more harm than good for the homeless community.

This town of 170,000 replaced some cops with medics and mental health workers. It's worked for over 30 yearsAround 30 years ago, a town in Oregon retrofitted an old van, staffed it with young medics and mental health counselors and sent them out to respond to the kinds of 911 calls that wouldn't necessarily require police intervention.

Removing Cops From Behavioral Crisis Calls: 'We Need To Change The Model'San Francisco will soon launch the nation's largest experiment that diverts most nonviolent mental health and behavioral crisis calls away from police and to specially trained mobile units.

What is CAHOOTS? - White Bird Clinic31 years ago the City of Eugene, Oregon developed an innovative community-based public safety system to provide mental health first […]

Alternatives to Arrests and Police Responses to HomelessnessIn response to unsheltered homelessness, communities often turn to punitive responses: issuing ordinances that criminalize homelessness, clearing homeless encampments, and arresting people. This results in people becoming trapped in a cycle of homelessness and jail. The solution to this cycle is Housing First, an evidence-based strategy that has been proven to help people stay in housing and improve their quality of life. Until housing is available at the scale needed to end homelessness, communities can improve outcomes for people enduring unsheltered homelessness and for the community as a whole by considering promising innovations that prioritize inclusive public space management and shift the role of law enforcement agencies from policing homelessness to solving homelessness in partnerships with service providers. This report reviews the evidence for housing as the solution to homelessness and emerging evidence for inclusive public space and alternative crisis response policies and practices.

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