What To Read This Week
1. More Polling Results On Community Safety Departments
Last week, Safer Cities described new polling results which showed that 75% of voters would support the creation of an Albuquerque-style community safety department where they live. Today, we detail results that help unpack what motivates that overwhelming support:
Voters overwhelmingly prefer a singular department that houses and coordinates a range of unarmed first responder services. We asked voters to tell us which of the “following statements comes closest to your own view, even if neither is exactly correct?”
62% of voters said that “programs like mobile crisis response, which address mental health and substance use related 911 calls; and security ambassadors, which provide a uniformed presence on major streets and in shopping districts, should be part of one city department, which could be called a Community Safety Department.”
25% of voters said that “programs like mobile crisis response and security ambassadors serve different functions and should be run as independent agencies as opposed to being centralized in one city Community Safety Department.”
Voters support a constellation of unarmed first responder units, each with specialized training and discrete roles, within a community safety department. We asked: “Please indicate if you support or oppose a unit within the community safety departments playing each of the following roles.” Here’s what voters reported:
Responding to mental health crises. (89% support)
Engaging in proactive outreach to people who are homeless. (89% support)
After a drug overdose, going to a person’s home within 72 hours to help with treatment programs, medical insurance issues, and transportation. (85% support)
Picking up needles and other drug paraphernalia to ensure public spaces are safe and clean. (84% support)
Providing a highly visible uniformed presence at the street level to deter low level crime. (83% support)
2. Spotlight on Excellent Local Television News Coverage
Commentary on crime in local news coverage tends to focus on what journalists are getting wrong. Yet, local television news stations across the country have provided compelling, fair, and informative reporting on the efforts that cities are making to create a more comprehensive approach to public safety. Over the next few editions, Safer Cities will highlight some of the best coverage we’ve watched. Today, for example, are two must-watch segments on Albuquerque’s Community Safety Department:
ACS Turns One: “Albuquerque Community Safety Team Easing Albuquerque Police Department's Load on 911 Calls.” For KRQE, Alexa Skonieski interviewed Mariela Ruiz-Angel, Director of Albuquerque Community Safety, who explained, “[t]he reason that we started Albuquerque Community Safety was so that ultimately it would divert 911 calls that would normally go to police and really jam up our system and be able to take those and put them with A-C-S.” And, as Ruiz-Angel explains, there is tremendous demand for A-C-S’s services: “We have calls pending when we get to the office at 7am and we have calls that we have to unfortunately sometimes kick back to the police department at 8pm.”
ACS Turns Two: “Albuquerque's Community Safety Department becomes national role model.” For KOB4, Griffin Rushton detailed the department’s early milestones: “Albuquerque’s Community Safety Department is not even two years old, but it’s earned quite the reputation. In just about 17 months, the department’s 42 civilian employees have responded to more than 20,000 calls across the city.” Rushton interviewed Joshua Reeves, a division manager for the community safety department, who described a recent call that involved “a situation where there was a man who was on a bridge and wanted to jump off. Police also happen to go to the same call, and what we've noticed the officers now are learning to defer to us as sort of the people who might de-escalate and talk to that individual because it's a little easier for us to build a rapport.”
3. “Los Angeles Metro Introduces Ambassador Program Aiming to Improve Rider Safety. Hundreds of Ambassadors Will Be Trained to Track and Report Concerns.”
For NBC News Los Angeles, Anthony Bautista reports on the LA Metro’s “new ambassador pilot program, [which] aims to improve issues related to security, cleanliness and accessibility for riders.” And, continuing the theme of excellent local news segments, Fox News Los Angeles’ Hal Eisner did a segment on the launch of the LA Metro ambassador program that quotes LA Supervisor Holly Mitchell on why these transit ambassadors are needed:
“Every one of my constituents has a different perception of what it takes for them to feel safe in a public space. We thought that by having an extra set of eyes in the system—unarmed and well trained—we can improve people's perceptions of public safety without the unnecessary risks of over policing or enabling situations to escalate to violence.”
