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USC Advisory Board Finds Campus Police Disproportionately Stop Black People

LAist featured Erroll Southers of the USC Price School and Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro of the USC Dornsife College on the university’s recent report on campus safety and racial profiling. Additional coverage was found in Campus Safety Magazine. The report recommends a new vision for public safety at USC, and it also says calls about mental health or homelessness should go to another USC campus office. “Especially around the Health Sciences Campus on the east side of Read more…

How much renters owe in back rent

KNX 1070 AM and Spectrum News 1 featured research by Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center on how much L.A. County renters currently owe in back rent. “It was disproportionately renters who were thrown out of work. And while a lot of federal programs helped, getting a check to people, it wasn’t enough.” Richard K. Green Tweet

Rethinking Public Safety at the University of Southern California

KPCC-FM featured Erroll Southers of the USC Price School and Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro of the USC Dornsife College as they discussed the university’s report on recommendations from the Department of Public Safety Community Advisory Board — which they co-chaired — regarding campus safety and racial profiling. Members of the advisory board called for a concept of “One USC,” in which every member of the USC community experiences safety equitably. They also recommended the creation of an independent oversight board, Read more…

Joy and grief will coexist as Americans return to pre-pandemic life – ‘everyday memorials’ will help

The Conversation recently published an article written by David Sloane on the joy and grief many of us will experience as we attempt to return to pre-pandemic life. They did not get to hold hands at the hospital, have mourning hours with visitors and family, or stand above the grave as the body was lowered into the ground. It was for many a sudden, traumatic stop. David Sloane Tweet Read the full article

Ed Buck federal trial: How did the political donor evade law enforcement for so long?

KCRW-FM featured Jody Armour of the USC Gould School on the federal trial of political donor Ed Buck, who is charged with supplying methamphetamine that killed two men in his apartment. Armour says he agrees with activists like Jasmyne Cannick who argued that Buck’s power and privilege protected him from being charged with any crimes. “The response to these victims is not the same response that there would have been had the victims not been Black. Read more…

LAPD detonation of illegal fireworks

Jody Armour was interviewed live by Claudia Peschiutta of KNX 1070-AM radio on the legal liability of the city and the Los Angeles Police Department after detonating fireworks in a residential neighborhood. “It sounds like almost the definition of carelessness that I would bring up in a classroom hypothetical with my students…they [LAPD] didn’t even bother to weigh it [explosives]. They just decided they were going to eyeball it and resulted in a catastrophic explosion Read more…

THE NEED FOR CAPITOL POLICE FIELD OFFICES OUTSIDE D.C.

NBC News Palm Springs affiliate KMIR-TV featured Erroll Southers of the USC Price School on the U.S. Capitol Police opening offices in two states outside of Washington, D.C. which are California and Florida. California being selected as a field office location may come to a surprise to some, but not experts who study threats. “We’re always deemed a very progressive state, we have an interesting history, back in the ’80s we were burning more crosses in Read more…

Rising home prices

Spectrum News 1 featured Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center on rising house prices being tied to people not moving. “In California, we have a law that encourages that behavior. It’s Proposition 13, which basically limits how much property taxes can go up as long as you live in that house.” Richard K. Green

Wealth, class and remote work reshape California’s new boomtowns as people flee big cities

Seva Rodnyansky was quoted in Los Angeles Times article about populations moving around and outside California. “The areas that are bordering Sacramento are more built up, but places that are farther up in the highways and valleys, they’re as forested and as densely green as any,” said Seva Rodnyansky, assistant professor of urban and environmental policy at Occidental College. “So as the county population grows … it’s likely it’s going to be more homes in Read more…

Critical Race Theory

Jody Armour of the USC Gould School was featured by Spectrum News 1 on the debate over critical race theory. “Critical race theory means a lot of things to a lot of people now. It’s kind of a catchphrase that is contested as part of a political contest between vying groups who are trying to give it a certain meaning and prevail in what that meaning is.” Jody Armour Tweet

Sentencing of Derek Chauvin

Erroll Southers was featured in a live news segment with Colleen Williams, KNBC News at 5, on the sentencing of Derek Chauvin.  “I think the judge’s sentence fell approximately where we thought it would fall, especially if you look at Minnesota precedence for the same exact crime. Between 2014 and 2019, 112 people were sentenced for the same conviction and only two people received the maximum.” “I think going forward [from Derek Chauvin sentencing] you’re Read more…

American Flag

Fox News Los Angeles affiliate KTTV-TV featured Jody Armour of the USC Gould School on suggestions to redesign the American flag. The American flag has become more and more inclusive over time. It started out being very exclusionary, only applying to white men. Blacks were not part of the American flag. After the Civil War, it became more inclusive. Jody Armour Tweet  

LEWIS Registry plans to list, document problem police officers nationwide

Spectrum News 1 featured the USC Price School’s Safe Communities Institute’s Director, Erroll Southers and the development of the LEWIS Registry. This registry is a national database will track police misconduct and provide departments with analytics. The LEWIS Registry will launch beta tests for law enforcement later this year and estimates a public-facing launch in winter 2021. …it’s not enough for an announcement or news story to state that an officer is no longer with Read more…

Juneteeth, The New Federal Holiday Signed Into Law Thursday

CBS News Los Angeles affiliate KCBS-TV featured Jody Armour of the USC Gould School on the new law that makes Juneteenth a federal holiday. Armour was also interviewed live on KNBC Today in LA and KTTV Good Day in L.A. “Some people think it’s hollow symbolism, but it’s really very meaningful. We’ve been arguing about our shared public life when it comes to symbols for some time now. The Confederate flag, Confederate monuments; we’ve agreed Read more…

Juneteenth Federal Holiday

NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV featured Jody Armour of the USC Gould School on the successful vote to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. “The concern is that this may be just hollow symbolism, and we should not settle for mere symbolism at the expense of substantive change.” Jody Armour Tweet Read the full article

What Does Juneteenth Celebrate?

NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV featured Jody Armour of the USC Gould School on the history and significance of the Juneteenth holiday. “You can mark and trace the occasion [Juneteenth] to Texas, to a southern state. And it is Texas slaves, who weren’t any longer slaves, they were free, but word hadn’t reached them yet. They hadn’t been apprised of their status as American citizens, finally, after all this time.” Jody Armour Tweet Read the Read more…

Jody Armour Honored by USC Academic Senate with Walter Wolf Award

USC Academic Senate recently presented Professor Jody Armour with the 2021 Walter Wolf Award for Defense of Academic Freedom and Faculty Rights. The award is given to a USC faculty member for their defense and advocacy of academic freedom or other manifestations of social conscience, through distinguished faculty service, teaching, scholarship or activity as a public intellectual. “It’s an especially meaningful award [Walter Wolf] at this moment in time when we’re at a historical inflection point in Read more…

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