tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/baltimore-16472/articlesBaltimore – The Conversation2024-03-28T18:54:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2268342024-03-28T18:54:32Z2024-03-28T18:54:32ZAfter the Baltimore bridge collapse, we need clear-eyed assessments of the risks to key infrastructure<p>Catastrophic collapses of major bridges are thankfully rare. Notable examples in the last couple of decades include the failure of the <a href="https://www.dot.state.mn.us/i35wbridge/collapse.html">I35-W in Minneapolis in August 2007</a>, and the collapse of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/genoa-bridge-collapse-maintaining-these-%20structures-is-a-constant-battle-against-traffic-and-decay-101627">Morandi bridge in Genoa 11 years later</a>. When such events do occur, public attention is understandably focused on the nature of the collapse, which can extend over hundreds of metres in seconds, and its underlying causes. </p>
<p>Whether because of an extreme loading event or an accident, these supposedly rare events in the life of a bridge still need to be assessed before they happen, and mitigation measures taken in accordance with all the potential consequences. This type of analysis is known as a “risk-based consequence assessment”. The cost of taking additional measures in the near term can prevent major adverse consequences further down the road.</p>
<p>With many of these structures being over 50 years old, we often hear that a bridge’s condition may have been compromised by deterioration and increased traffic loads – both in the size and frequency of vehicles. Also, older bridges were designed to standards that have been superseded by new knowledge and technology.</p>
<p>While these factors have helped convince some politicians to increase their infrastructure budgets, including through the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-%20releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/">Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal</a> in the US, the tendency has been to focus on stronger, more resilient new structures and on higher maintenance for existing structures. The latter makes it easy for politicians to show the money spent has had a positive impact, because it results in an overall reduction in the number of bridges classified as obsolete or deficient.</p>
<p>Given the enormous scale of the bridge maintenance problem – the American Road Transportation Builders Association has estimated that <a href="https://theconversation.com/disasters-like-bridge-collapses-put-%20transportation-agencies-emergency-plans-to-the-test-207779">one in three US bridges needs repair</a> – it makes sense to spread available funding widely. However, this approach can have serious shortcomings if it does not set clear priorities based on the scale of potential consequences from accidents and failures.</p>
<p>One of the two central pylons of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key_Bridge_(Baltimore)">Francis Scott Key bridge</a> in Baltimore was rammed by a 300m-long container ship at around 1.30am on March 24, leading to progressive collapse of the bridge’s entire <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truss_bridge">truss</a> within four seconds. </p>
<p>Although the 47-year-old bridge had been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/francis-scott-key-bridge-baltimore-condition-container-ship-what-we-know-how-collapse-happened/">found to be in a “fair” condition</a> during its most recent inspection in 2008, and was “fully up to code” according to Maryland’s governor after the collision, experts agreed that a catastrophic collapse <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/francis-scott-key-%20bridge-baltimore-condition-container-ship-what-we-know-how-collapse-happened/">was to be expected</a> given the magnitude of the ship’s impact. Maintenance workers were on the bridge at the time filling potholes, including the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68673146">six people who died</a>.</p>
<h2>Direct and indirect consequences</h2>
<p>Bridge collapses due to vessel collisions have happened before and unfortunately will happen again. In a similar incident in 1980, <a href="https://www.structuremag.org/?p=20417">the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Tampa Bay</a>, also a steel truss structure, was hit by a barge, resulting in 35 casualties due to the collapse of over 400m (1,300ft) of its span. </p>
<p>Around the world, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has reported 31 major bridge collapses <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marstruc.2020.102840">due to vessel collisions</a> between 1960 and 2002, resulting in 342 deaths.</p>
<p>The latest, the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, has cut off one of three transport links across the Patapsco river in the busy Baltimore port area. Given its importance as a transport hub, this will have major economic implications that could have been anticipated. </p>
<p>More than 30,000 vehicles that were using the Key Bridge daily now have to seek alternative routes. Significantly, the other two local crossings are via tunnels, which imposes limits on the type of traffic that can cross the river because the transporting of hazardous materials through tunnels is prohibited.</p>
<p>Shipping traffic into and out of the Baltimore port has been suspended until further notice. Removal of the debris will be a complex operation, and work to ensure all vessel types can navigate the river safely will take time. Further restrictions will then need to be in place when the new bridge is constructed.</p>
<p>There are already signs that supply chains around the world are being affected by the bridge collapse, especially in the car and light truck sector, and in farm and construction machinery. </p>
<p>The economic consequences of this catastrophic event will be substantial at both city and state level. Early estimates on liability insurance payouts suggest the total cost may <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/17cf3f2e-e64d-4666-b1c2-2723347c2ada">exceed US$1.5 billion (£1.2 billion)</a>. </p>
<p>Judging by what has happened after past bridge collapses, there could be negative impacts on jobs and the local economy: about 14,000 people work in the port itself, and another 140,000 are employed in related services. </p>
<p>Above all, six people lost their lives. But the human cost could have been much worse if the incident had taken place during rush hour. Had the impact occurred with a vessel carrying hazardous materials, the environmental costs could have been dramatic as well.</p>
<p>Given what we know from previous incidents about the severity of ship-bridge collisions and major bridge collapses, it was clear this bridge was of critical importance.</p>
<p>A number of mitigation options are available to bridges, including the installation of protection devices around the bridge supports (pylons) in the form of fenders or artificial islands, to deflect a ship or lessen the energy of a collision. </p>
<p>For bridges in general, there are measures that can help on the ship side too, such as requiring the use of tugboats or introducing stricter limits on speeds, depending on the type of cargo and vessel size. It is not clear, however, whether these would have made any difference in the case of the Baltimore bridge collapse.</p>
<p>Above all, by undertaking a risk-based consequence assessment every decade or so, authorities that are responsible for vital infrastructure can help visualise changing risks and prioritise their responses appropriately. In the case of river bridges, ever-increasing ship sizes, speedier turnaround times and higher cargo volumes have all increased the risks – and the costs of a catastrophic collision or collapse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marios Chryssanthopoulos has received funding from UKRI, Network Rail, Highways Agency and the European Commission.</span></em></p>The collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge is already affecting global supply chains.Marios Chryssanthopoulos, Professor of Structural Systems, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203372024-03-28T17:33:56Z2024-03-28T17:33:56ZA human, environmental and economic emergency response to the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585126/original/file-20240328-22-lc2w7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4993%2C3079&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Coast Guard cutter passes the cargo ship Dali that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Md. on March 26. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Steve Helber)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On March 26, the container ship Dali in Baltimore’s industrial harbour <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-cargo-ship-dali-09aeffc6fa81f3069d4ba226def90555">struck an interstate highway bridge</a>, causing it to catastrophically collapse. Eight highway maintenance workers were <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/who-is-missing-in-baltimores-francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-what-we-know-about-those-unaccounted-for/">thought to be on the bridge at the time of collapse</a>. Two were <a href="https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-update-2-rescued-so-far/60305176">rescued</a>, and two bodies <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/us/victims-death-latest.html">were recovered</a>. Four workers remain missing, and are now <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/maryland-bridge-collapse-francis-scott-key-bridge-boat-baltimore-rcna145047">presumed dead</a>.</p>
<p>The ship-bridge collision was a technological disaster, defined as an event caused by <a href="https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FY1230">a malfunction of a technological structure</a> or human error in controlling or handling the technology. </p>
<p>In this case, the root cause of the disaster involved the interaction of two types of transportation technologies: a moving container ship and a fixed bridge.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/human-centred-design-can-help-reduce-accidents-like-the-recent-ethiopian-airlines-boeing-737-crash-113987">Human-centred design can help reduce accidents like the recent Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crash</a>
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<h2>A history of bridge collapses</h2>
<p>The disaster is not unprecedented — between 1960 to 2015 there have been <a href="https://conference-service.com/pianc-panama/documents/agenda/data/full_papers/full_paper_46.pdf">35 major bridge collapses</a> due to collisions by ships or barges.</p>
<p>On Feb. 22, in Guangzhou, south China, a container ship rammed into a bridge pillar leading to the subsequent <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/container-ship-hits-bridge-in-south-china-killing-5-and-knocking-section-of-roadway-into-the-water-1.6778666">collapse of the Lixinsha Bridge</a>, and killing five people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="photo of ships and boats sail on a river. a bridge with a section missing from the middle is in the foreground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585122/original/file-20240328-16-gkxw2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A massive container ship crashed into the Lixinsha Bridge in southern China on Feb. 22, 2024.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lu Hanxin/Xinhua via AP)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The collapse of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2024/03/26/francis-scott-key-bridge-history-baltimore/">Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge</a> serves as another stark reminder that despite our technological prowess, accidents involving transportation technology will continue to occur when we least expect them.</p>
<h2>The immediate response</h2>
<p>The immediate response started with a mayday call from the troubled ship causing police to take action to prevent more cars from going onto the bridge. U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders received <a href="https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3718320/coast-guard-multiple-partners-agencies-responding-to-francis-scott-key-bridge-c/">a report at 1:27 a.m.</a> of a container ship colliding with the bridge, and immediately deployed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-03-27-24/index.html">search and rescue boats to the shipping channel in Baltimore’s harbour</a>.</p>
<p>The first 24 hours after the collapse focused on saving more lives, to no avail. People who survived the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-do-we-know-about-baltimores-francis-scott-key-bridge-2024-03-26/">56-metre fall from the bridge deck</a> into the Patapsco River then faced <a href="https://www.today.com/news/baltimore-bridge-collapse-survivors-cold-water-rcna145083">water temperatures of nine degrees Celsius</a>. </p>
<p>If not immediately rescued, chances of survival in cold river water become difficult due to <a href="https://www.weather.gov/safety/coldwater">cold shock and hypothermia</a> setting in.</p>
<p>Tons of submerged bridge wreckage and tidal currents created <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/26/search-rescue-baltimore-bridge-collapse/">perilous conditions</a> for rescue operations. After an extensive search and rescue effort until sunset on March 26, the next-day emergency response activity transitioned to the grim task of recovery of the dead.</p>
<p>About eight hours after the collapse, the mayor of Baltimore declared a <a href="https://mayor.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2024-03-26-mayor-scott-issues-state-emergency">state of emergency</a>. The governor then issued <a href="https://governor.maryland.gov/Lists/ExecutiveOrders/Attachments/39/EO%2001.01.2024.09%20Declaration%20of%20a%20State%20of%20Emergency_Accessible.pdf">an executive order</a>, declaring a state of emergency for Maryland.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a shipyard with rows of shipping containers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/585127/original/file-20240328-20-3wnxqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest harbours in the U.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/state-of-emergency-maryland-bridge-collapse.html">state of emergency</a> allows officials to temporarily use extraordinary powers. Suspension of laws and regulations, quick redirection of funds, rapid deployment of personnel and the facilitation of federal aid are all reasons why a state of emergency would be declared. </p>
<p>The collision caused all maritime traffic to be stopped — <a href="https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/article/21285314/port-blocked-by-baltimore-bridge-collapse-is-key-hub-for-us-shipping">a significant impact on one of the busiest harbours in the United States</a> as a port of entry for foreign goods. Most of the Port of Baltimore’s shipping terminals are located within <a href="https://mpa.maryland.gov/Documents/2021TerminalMap.pdf">the area blocked by bridge collapse debris</a>.</p>
<p>In this case, the emergency declarations <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/27/baltimore-key-bridge-rebuild-timeline/">may allow governments to waive regulations</a> around competitive bidding to speed the eventual bridge rebuilding project.</p>
<h2>Pollution and debris clean-up</h2>
<p>Immediately after the collision, response operations include preventing environmental contamination. As the distressed cargo ship was departing to the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, it had on board about <a href="https://abc11.com/dali-cargo-ship-baltimore-bridge-collapse-patapsco-river/14577560/">1.8 million gallons of fuel</a>. Out of the thousands of containers being transported, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/27/baltimore-bridge-collapse-bodies-missing-workers/">56 containers contained 764 tons of hazardous materials</a>. </p>
<p>Removing the damaged steel latticework of the bridge’s trusses off the bow of the ship will be a challenging feat. </p>
<p>Debris now blocks navigation along the Fort McHenry Channel. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/3719448/army-corps-of-engineers-is-supporting-recovery-operations-following-francis-sco/">underwater surveys</a> to assess what needs to be done for debris removal.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9IG9OBINuvg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. White House press briefing after the Baltimore bridge collision.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The debris removal effort will be especially complex as sensitivity is required. In and around the same area where the <a href="https://www.marinelog.com/news/corps-supporting-recovery-operations-following-baltimore-bridge-collapse/">federal debris removal assessment</a> is taking place, rescue officials were searching for bodies — the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-03-28-24/h_586e28d0a65dece9b4f0577972b94592">search has been paused for safety reasons</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organization/Pages/FieldOperationsBureau/UnderwaterRecoveryTeam.aspx">Maryland State Police underwater recovery team</a> has responsibilities involving the recovery of the bodies of the missing highway workers. </p>
<h2>Unified command response</h2>
<p>Unified command is an emergency management technique applied when <a href="https://www.nrt.org/sites/2/files/UC%20TAD%201-26-07%20FINAL.pdf">there is more than one agency with incident jurisdiction</a>. </p>
<p>The Fort McHenry navigation channel and the I-695 bridge itself fall under multiple local, state and federal jurisdictional responsibilities. On March 27, a <a href="https://www.keybridgeresponse2024.com/post/baltimore-s-francis-scott-key-bridge-collapses-after-mv-dali-allided-with-bridge-column">unified command joint information centre</a> was established to co-ordinate emergency responses.</p>
<p>Sadly, within the first 48 hours search and rescue transitioned to search and recovery. Operations will be moving in the direction of salvage and <a href="https://homeport.uscg.mil/Lists/Content/Attachments/1626/MTSRU%20Information%20Sheet%20v4%200.pdf">port recovery</a>. </p>
<p>Going forward, the main priority is clearing the shipping channel to reopen the Port of Baltimore. True to form to the characteristics of a technological disaster, it will take a while to determine the scope of the impacts. </p>
<p>For the immediate future, timelines for when the Baltimore Harbour can return to normal will remain elusive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack L. Rozdilsky receives support for research communication and public scholarship from York University. He also has received research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.</span></em></p>A cargo ship leaving the Port of Baltimore collided with a bridge in a technological disaster that may have claimed the lives of up to six maintenance workers on the bridge at the time.Jack L. Rozdilsky, Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267852024-03-28T10:23:50Z2024-03-28T10:23:50ZBaltimore Key Bridge: how a domino effect brought it down in seconds<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68663071">collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge</a> in Baltimore on 26 March was a shocking and tragic event. Six people remain unaccounted for in the disaster, which saw the world’s third largest continuous truss bridge fall into the Patapsco river.</p>
<p>The cause was Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, which veered off course, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baltimore-bridge-collapse-ship-what-caused-crash-francis-scott-key-dali/">colliding with one of the bridge’s supports</a>, or piers. As the 300 metre-long vessel slammed into the structure, it triggered what’s known as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123023002177">progressive collapse</a>, where a domino effect leads to the entire structure failing. The bridge, built more than 45 years ago, crashed down into the frigid water at 1:28am eastern standard time (5:28 UTC).</p>
<p>But how could one ship bring down this 366m (1,200 ft) structure within seconds of the collision? </p>
<p>A progressive collapse involves the failure of a single element, like the pier, and results in the sequential failure of other connected components. These can include the metallic truss and the bridge’s deck. This type of collapse can have catastrophic consequences in terms of the risk to human life, as well as to the economy of an area and the local environment. </p>
<p>Although it’s impossible to account for every scenario, bridges can be built with inherent features that enhance their resistance to progressive collapse. Typically, bridges can withstand some degree of damage to a pier or part of the superstructure. The bridge deck can even remain safe for vehicles depending on the circumstances.</p>
<p>However, in the case of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the metallic truss was designed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2024/03/26/francis-scott-key-bridge-history-baltimore/">as one continuous system</a>. The space between each support, or pier, is known as the truss span. The collapse of one of the piers effectively doubled the truss span to the next support. This dramatic increase in span exerted a much larger force on the remaining truss structure. </p>
<p>While continuous truss systems are favoured because they can redistribute weight in the event of damage, in this case, the remaining truss elements couldn’t withstand all that extra force after the pier failed. </p>
<p>This resulted in the complete collapse of the truss section above the damaged
pier. The collapse didn’t stop there, however. Due to the interconnected nature of the trusses, the remaining section was initially pulled upwards. The sudden release of this tension created a powerful dynamic effect, ultimately causing the entire bridge to collapse.</p>
<h2>Rare event</h2>
<p>It’s certainly not unknown for ships to strike bridge supports. On May 9, 1980, <a href="https://www.fox13news.com/news/sunshine-skyway-bridge-francis-scott-key-baltimore-tampa-st-pete-florida-pinellas-hillsborough-collapse-boat-freighter">a strikingly similar event</a> took place when a freighter <a href="https://eu.jacksonville.com/picture-gallery/news/state/2019/05/08/photos-sunshine-skyway-bridge-disaster/809810007/">collided with a support pier of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge</a> in Tampa Bay, Florida. As a result, the bridge failed over a similar distance as the Baltimore collapse.</p>
<p>But while bridge designers are acutely aware of the potential for collisions, these are – at the same time – rather rare events. The impact forces on a support pier are also highly variable. A higher speed or heavier ship will significantly increase the force on the pier. And higher vessel traffic in the water boosts the probability of a collision.</p>
<p>In addition, the current method used in the US for calculating the collision force of a ship is based on <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/b15621-9/vessel-collision-design-bridges-michael-knott-zolan-prucz">research conducted between 1967 and 1976</a>. However, a different method would have been used for the Key Bridge, which opened in 1977. Needless to say, vessels as heavy and fast as the Dali were not a common sight in 1977. </p>
<p>In fact, the collision force under some scenarios is likely to be <a href="https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/baltimores-366m-span-steel-truss-bridge-collapses-after-being-struck-by-container-ship-26-03-2024/">well beyond the capacity of bridge piers to withstand</a>. This is why bridges have other systems of protection, such as dolphins – a group of pilings situated in the water near a pier, which serve to deflect a vessel or take the energy out of a collision.</p>
<p>There isn’t any information about the system that was installed when the Key Bridge opened in 1977. And some observers have questioned whether the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-key-bridge-structure-support-pier.html">protective barriers around the Baltimore bridge were sufficient</a>.</p>
<p>Regular structural assessments and retrofits are crucial to ensure a bridge meets current safety standards. Concrete and steel, the primary materials in this bridge, are susceptible to deterioration from factors like corrosion and other environmental conditions. </p>
<p>In general, insufficient maintenance or inadequate retrofits can be contributing factors when bridges collapse. However, it must be said there is no evidence this was a factor in this case – and the Key Bridge <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240326081517/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-tuesday/index.html">was said to be “up to code”</a> when the disaster occurred. </p>
<p>There will be more detail to come on this dramatic and tragic event. And the findings will surely inform future approaches to the design and protection of bridges across busy waterways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Mohamed Shaheen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’ll need to learn the lessons from this disaster.Dr Mohamed Shaheen, Lecturer in Structural Engineering, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267812024-03-28T00:10:00Z2024-03-28T00:10:00ZBridges can be protected from ship collisions – an expert on structures in disasters explains how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584868/original/file-20240327-24-swqhqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2988%2C1965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A cargo ship hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Florida's Tampa Bay in 1980, collapsing one span and killing 35 people.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BridgeCollapses-List/8ccc0211108542268f8c2a39403265d7/photo">AP Photo/Jackie Green</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The MV Dali, a 984-foot, 100,000-ton cargo ship, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-53169b379820032f832de4016c655d1b">rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge</a> when leaving Baltimore harbor on March 26, 2024, causing a portion of the bridge to collapse.</em></p>
<p><em>In an interview, University of Michigan civil engineer <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=764wTXMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Sherif El-Tawil</a> explained how often ships collide with bridges, what can be done to protect bridges from collisions, and how a similar disaster in Florida in 1980 – just three years after the Key bridge opened – changed the way bridges are built.</em></p>
<p><strong>This is not the first time a ship has taken out a bridge. What’s the history of ship-bridge collisions?</strong></p>
<p>This is an extremely rare event. To my knowledge, there are about 40 or so recorded events in the past 65 years that involved similar type of damage to a bridge caused by a ship. So they seem to occur on average about once every one and a half to two years around the world. When you consider that there are millions of bridges around the world – and most of them cross waterways – you can imagine how rare this is.</p>
<p>The most influential case was the 1980 <a href="https://www.structuremag.org/?p=20417">Sunshine Skyway Bridge collision</a> in Florida, which prompted the federal government to take action in terms of developing guidelines for designing bridges for ship collision. By the early 1990s the provisions were developed and incorporated into the bridge design code, the AASHTO specifications. The <a href="https://transportation.org/">American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials</a> produces the design code every bridge in the United States must conform to.</p>
<p><strong>What was different about the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster from previous bridge collisions?</strong></p>
<p>There were casualties. The fact that a crash could bring down a bridge, just like in the Baltimore situation, prompted the concern: Can we do something about it? And that something was those specifications that came out and eventually became incorporated in the national design document.</p>
<p>What those specifications say is that you either design the bridge for the impact force that a ship can deliver or you must protect the bridge against that impact force. So you must have a protective system. That’s why I was surprised that this bridge did not have a protective system, some type of barrier, around it. I have not examined the structural plans of this bridge. All I could see is the pictures that were published online, but protective systems would be very visible and recognizable if they were there.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in 1980 prompted improvements in bridge safety.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What is currently mandated for new bridge construction, and is it sufficient to handle today’s massive cargo ships?</strong></p>
<p>I estimate, based on the published speed and weight of the MV Dali, that the impact force was in the range of 30 million pounds. This is a massive force, and you need a massive structure to withstand that kind of force. But it is doable if you have a huge pier. That might dictate the design of the bridge and what it could look like. Most likely it could not be a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/truss-bridge">truss bridge</a>. It may be a <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/bridge7.htm">cable stay bridge</a> that has a very large tower that is capable of taking that load.</p>
<p>If you cannot design for that load, then you have to consider other alternatives. And that’s what the specifications say. They’re very clear about this. And those alternatives could be to build an island around the pier or a rock wall, or put dolphins – standalone structures set in the riverbed – adjacent to it, or put on fenders that absorb the energy so the ship doesn’t come in so fast. All of these are ways you can mitigate the impact.</p>
<p>Engineers design structures – and bridges are no exception – for a certain probability of failure, because if we didn’t, the cost would be prohibitive. Theoretically, you could build a structure that would never fail, but you’d have to put infinite money into it. For a critical bridge of this type, we would consider an acceptable chance for failure to be <a href="https://conference-service.com/pianc-panama/documents/agenda/data/full_papers/full_paper_46.pdf">1 in 10,000 years</a>.</p>
<p>Based on published information, I tried to compute what the probability of this event would be, and it turns out to be 1 in 100,000 years or so. The ship made a beeline directly to the pier that was vulnerable. It was just shocking to see such a rare event unfold. </p>
<p>The authority of the bridge must have considered protecting it, and the low probability of this occurring must have played a role in whether they would invest or not in protective measures. Because any type of construction in water or on water is very expensive.</p>
<p><strong>Is it feasible to protect older bridges?</strong></p>
<p>I think so. For some of them it might be lower tech like the island idea. And it could use maybe rocks or concrete components that would prevent the ship from reaching the pier at all. </p>
<p>It was a massive ship with a flared bow. The lower part of the ship, which extends beyond the bow, I believe struck the foundation system, but the bow reached the pier. The pier was like an A shape, so the bow snapped one side of the A. The other side could not support the weight of the bridge and so the whole thing collapsed. If somebody kicks your feet from underneath you, you’re just going to fall. That’s exactly what happened.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Video captured the moment the Dali hit a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>How many bridges are vulnerable to ship collisions?</strong></p>
<p>I don’t know the number, but I know that bridges that are in this category, that are long span, major bridges like this, are probably less than 0.1% of the bridges in the U.S. And some of them do not necessarily cross waterways, so that’s a subset that is an even lower percentage. So it’s a rare event occurring to a rare kind of bridge. </p>
<p><strong>Are cargo ships getting larger, and is that a consideration for protecting bridges?</strong></p>
<p>I expect so because there is an economy of scale. Bigger ships would be cheaper for transporting goods. But I cannot envision that the designer of this bridge 50 years ago or so would have thought that a ship this size could impact the bridge. I’m sure they would have taken steps to address that. It just didn’t cross their mind.</p>
<p>If this bridge had been designed to the current specifications, I believe it would have survived. There are two reasons a ship would deliver this kind of force: It’s moving too fast or it’s too heavy. And those two factors are taken into consideration in the impact force for which we design. So if we are taking those explicitly into consideration, then a bigger ship, yes, it’s a bigger force, and we would design for that. </p>
<p>But let’s go forward another 50 years and imagine you have a much larger ship that comes into being. At that time, bridges will have been designed for smaller ships, and you have the same problem all over again. It’s hard to predict how big these things will go. You can design for current ships, but as they evolve, it’s hard to predict many years into the future.</p>
<p><strong>Are there other takeaways from this disaster?</strong></p>
<p>The loss of this bridge, beyond the tragic loss of life, is going to be felt for many months if not years. It’s not a straightforward process to replace a bridge of this magnitude, of this span distance. It’s something that will require a lot of planning and a lot of resources to come back again to where we were before.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sherif El-Tawil receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>A civil engineer explains why ships taking out bridges is rare, and describes how bridge builders protect the structures from ship collisions.Sherif El-Tawil, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267052024-03-27T13:16:56Z2024-03-27T13:16:56ZPort of Baltimore bridge collapse rattles supply chains already rocked by troubles in Panama and the Red Sea<p><em>The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, has put a spotlight on the Port of Baltimore, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/26/baltimore-bridge-collapse-port-close-ripple-effects">one of the busiest harbors in the U.S.</a>, which paused shipping and immediately halted all vessel traffic in and out.</em></p>
<p><em>The port remained open to trucks following the incident, but the loss of maritime traffic <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/baltimore-bridge-collapse-could-cost-9-million-day-1883756#:%7E:text=The%20collapse%20of%20the%20Francis,supply%20chain%20expert%20told%20Newsweek.">is expected to cost US$9 million a day</a>. The overall <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/baltimore-maryland-bridge-collapse-impact-ports-shipments-deliveries-rcna145114">economic toll is likely to be higher</a> as billions of dollars of goods are rerouted amid the prospect of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/baltimore-bridge-economic-impact-0514d05a">supply chains being snarled for months</a>. It will also mean a loss of tax revenue for the city and state.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked Simona Stan, <a href="https://www.umt.edu/business-faculty-staff/directory/management-marketing.php?ID=3728">a supply chain and logistics expert</a> at the University of Montana, to explain the short- and long-term impacts of the crash on supply chains.</em></p>
<h2>How important is the Port of Baltimore?</h2>
<p>The Port of Baltimore <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-03-26-2024/card/here-s-how-baltimore-ranks-among-u-s-ports-GhJBis2HpJALb28ZjzQF">is the ninth largest U.S. port</a> by overall trade volume. In 2023 alone, it moved around 50 million tons of goods between the U.S. and other countries, much of it in large shipping containers, like those stacked on the ship that rammed into the bridge. </p>
<p>Although it’s smaller than other ports on the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, it still plays a critical role in processing U.S. international trade traffic. That’s especially true for some products, <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/subnational_usa_port/baltimore-md-1303">such as automobiles, heavy machinery and coal</a>. It also handles <a href="https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/61163-collapsed-bridge-shuts-down-port-of-baltimore">a large share of U.S. sugar imports</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s the short-term impact of its closure on supply chains?</h2>
<p>The immediate <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/26/baltimore-bridge-collapse-port-close-ripple-effects">impact will be felt by the 15,000 or so workers</a> in the port and about 140,000 others who depend on it. It doesn’t mean they’ll be laid off, but drastically less traffic would mean less work to go around. </p>
<p>Companies and consumers should expect some delays for packages that would have otherwise been processed by the port. How long depends on how much time it takes for ships to be rerouted to other terminals, but it should only add a matter of days or up to a week or two. </p>
<p>Baltimore accounts for <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/03/26/key-bridge-collapse-baltimore-deliveries-effect/73105545007">only 4% of overall East Coast trade</a>, so it shouldn’t have a major impact. Dealers will probably experience some delays receiving imported cars and light trucks, but things should be resolved within days or weeks.</p>
<h2>What’s the long-term impact?</h2>
<p>The problem is that supply chains have been under stress from multiple directions lately. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/feb/16/houthi-attacks-in-red-sea-having-a-catastrophic-effect-on-aid-to-sudan">Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/shipping-panama-red-sea-suez-canal-edc91172">Panama Canal bottlenecks</a> have lengthened delivery times and increased costs for companies that rely on East Coast ports. </p>
<p>The pause in maritime traffic at the Port of Baltimore adds one more point of pressure for trade in the region. This may lead more shippers that have a choice to send more freight through West Coast ports, which have not suffered much from the Red Sea attacks and Panama problems.</p>
<p>This could also mean <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/a-trucking-strategy-that-boomed-during-pandemic-shocks-is-hot-again.html">more business for trucking and rail companies</a> if it means they have to transport more goods from the West to East Coast.</p>
<h2>How does this supply chain shock compare with other recent ones?</h2>
<p>From a supply chain perspective, this was a freak accident. It’s dramatic, it’s graphic, and it forces people to pay attention to the issue. </p>
<p>But unlike the Red Sea attacks or the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to lingering supply chain problems, fallout from the bridge collapse will be temporary. </p>
<p>That said, we’ll likely see public pressure on companies to try to prevent such a thing from happening again – even though the risk of ships striking bridges is very low.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226705/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simona Stan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A supply chain expert looks at the short- and long-term impacts of the bridge collapse.Simona Stan, Professor of Marketing, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267002024-03-26T21:31:13Z2024-03-26T21:31:13ZI’ve captained ships into tight ports like Baltimore, and this is how captains like me work with harbor pilots to avoid deadly collisions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584588/original/file-20240326-28-gp58p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C20%2C1855%2C1249&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ship Dali amid the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXMarylandBridgeCollapse/b59d34234f344c719d7acd7b9a2491c5/photo?Query=bridge&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=85912&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Details are still emerging about the disaster that happened in the early morning of March 26, 2024, when the Dali, a large cargo ship on its way out of the port of Baltimore, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-bridge-collapse">hit a major bridge and caused it to collapse</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation’s senior politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit, spoke with Captain Allan Post, a veteran ship’s officer, about the role a ship pilot plays in bringing a large ship in and out of a harbor. <a href="https://www.tamug.edu/administration/NoMenu/Post.html">Post, who now directs</a> Marine Education Support and Safety Operations at Texas A&M University at Galveston and is also deputy superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, said the disaster was “absolutely” every crew member’s nightmare.</em> </p>
<p><strong>What was your first thought when you heard about the accident?</strong></p>
<p>Post: My first thought was, thank God it happened at night, because of the low amount of traffic on the bridge. If that had happened during the daytime, casualties would be in the thousands. My heart aches for those lives lost.</p>
<p><strong>There were two ship pilots aboard the ship as it left its berth in the Port of Baltimore. Can you tell us what ship pilots do?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Ship pilots are brought on board in what are considered restricted maneuverability or navigation areas. They are local experts who are usually certified by the state or federal government <a href="https://www.impahq.org/maritime-pilots">to provide advice to the master of the vessel as to how to control the vessel</a>, safely and adequately, through the pilotage waters, which in this case would be down the river from the Port of Baltimore. </p>
<p>Pilots are well practiced in close-quarters maneuvering, especially with tugboats and docking the vessel alongside the assigned berth. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YVdVpd-pqcM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The moment the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a container ship slammed into it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>But a pilot doesn’t come aboard the ship and take control of it, do they?</strong></p>
<p>Post: They are just <a href="https://www.pspilots.org/what-we-do/working-with-the-captain/">advisers to the captain</a>, who is known as the “master.” The master still has full responsibility for the safe navigation of the vessel. So the pilot will meet the ship out at sea or at the dock if it’s in port and leaving to go to sea. They proceed up to the bridge. Usually they exchange greetings, and usually a little bit of ship’s swag is given, either a hat or something else, or at least a cup of coffee. </p>
<p>They then set up their gear. With the electronics that we now have, they plug into the ship’s electronic chart data information system. And then they conduct the pilot exchange with the master of the vessel, where the master of the vessel describes where they are going, what the characteristics of the ship are, who’s on the bridge, what their first language is and the air draft of the vessel, which refers to how high out of the water the vessel is, so that you know whether you can take the ship under a bridge safely. </p>
<p>Once that’s completed, the pilot then starts instructing the officer of the watch or the captain – those are usually the same person – in how to get to where they need to be to dock the ship, or undock the ship and bring it to sea. This instructing is done during complex maneuvers, not all the time. The pilot can also say he’s not going to do it, and can shut down their operations if conditions are unsafe or if they feel that the vessel is not in condition to be able to transit safely. That happens a lot, especially in fog. </p>
<p>The ship pilot also interacts with the Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service and other ships in the area, and coordinates with the tugboats and line handlers to be able to safely maneuver the vessel close to the pier or when a ship is leaving the berth.</p>
<p><strong>Can you describe the training of a ship pilot?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Most of them start out at a maritime academy and have to spend many years at sea in command or as a bridge watch-stander on a vessel. From there, they start into the pilot apprentice program that each one of the pilot associations has, and those programs last years. What they do in those programs is use simulators and real, actual hands-on training, so that they can see how the different ships maneuver, how different places along the route have different currents and tides, and how the channels affect the ships. </p>
<p>It’s not something that you can go to a sea school for three weeks to learn and then come out and be a pilot. <a href="https://cms3.revize.com/revize/americanpilots/A_Career_as_a_Ship_Pilot.pdf">It’s many years long</a>. They’re really the surgeons of the sea. </p>
<p><strong>So when a ship’s pilot shows up, they’re going to be someone with a minimum of how many years training before they even get onto your ship?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Many have 10-plus years before they are allowed to work on their own.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man climbing down a rope and wood ladder on the side of a very tall ship." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584591/original/file-20240326-28-vr1fzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Liverpool, England, ship pilot climbing down a ladder from the MSC Sandra to a waiting pilot launch after guiding the container ship out of the Mersey River at the beginning of its voyage to Montreal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/james-smart-one-of-the-team-of-liverpool-pilots-employed-by-news-photo/583686546?adppopup=true">Photo by Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>They have to be specialists in the place where they work, don’t they?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Most of them are ship’s officers licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard, and they’re licensed for unlimited tonnage vessels. But that’s not the end of training. From there, they are hired into the pilot apprentice programs for the area in which they’re going to gain their pilot endorsement or credentials. One pilot may not be credentialed in another area. They spend many years under the guidance of senior pilots who teach them basically everything that they need to know about the local waterways, about the navigation, current tides, where all the berths are. They become absolute experts in how to do this. And then, when most of them end up taking the pilotage exam, they have to draw the charts that they would be using in the pilotage waters – from memory.</p>
<p><strong>Are there legal requirements for ship pilots to be present both going out of and coming in these restricted areas?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Yes, there are – state law, federal law or both.</p>
<p><strong>This is an almost 1,000-foot-long vessel. Is that big, small or medium?</strong></p>
<p>Post: That’s about standard size these days. Ship sizes have absolutely grown monstrous over the years. But 1,000 feet is just about normal. </p>
<p><strong>Has ship piloting been around for a long time?</strong></p>
<p>Post: It’s been around for almost as long as man has been using the sea for commerce. In the early years of sea travel, and even now, a captain is not going to know every port, so he would bring on a person with local knowledge. It started out a lot of times as local fishermen. In the U.S., the <a href="https://www.sandyhookpilots.com/">Sandy Hook Pilots Association</a> has been piloting ships <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/nyregion/at-sea-with-new-york-harbors-channel-masters.html">in and out of New York Harbor for about 300 years</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Was what happened in Baltimore every captain, pilot and crew’s nightmare?</strong></p>
<p>Post: Absolutely. My initial assumption is that I think it’s going to come down to an electrical fault on the ship that was just terrible timing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Post does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two ship pilots were on board the large cargo vessel that hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. A veteran ship captain describes the role these pilots play in close-quarter maneuvering.Allan Post, Deputy Superintendent, Texas A&M Maritime Academy, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2220992024-02-01T13:30:27Z2024-02-01T13:30:27ZNorman Jewison’s ‘Rollerball’ depicted a world in which corporations controlled all information – is this dystopian vision becoming reality?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572218/original/file-20240130-21-2dwwbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=87%2C1%2C1007%2C670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jonathan E., played by James Caan, competes as the owners watch from the stands.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://silverscreenings.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/rollerball-1975.jpg">MGM</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the films of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/movies/norman-jewison-dead.html">Norman Jewison</a>, who died on Jan. 22, 2024, had a unifying theme, it was how his characters searched for meaning and questioned the rules of their worlds.</p>
<p>No matter the genre of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0422484/">the scores of films he directed</a> – from “In the Heat of the Night” to “Fiddler on the Roof” – his characters grew by confronting their own biases and preconceptions, even if it meant sacrificing things they once held dear. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZiqctEkAAAAJ&hl=en">And as a media scholar</a>, I see the Canadian director’s 1975 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073631/?ref_=tt_ch">Rollerball</a>” as one of his most underrated works. In it, the film’s hero, Jonathan E., is a star athlete who’s willing to risk his own life to avoid being a pawn for his corporate overlords. </p>
<p>Set in a dystopian 2018, the film helps make sense of today’s political and cultural struggles, which are taking places as corporations and the wealthy consolidate their control over the information systems, newspapers and media outlets that once served democracy. </p>
<h2>Comfort in exchange for subservience</h2>
<p>In “Rollerball,” Jewison depicts a future in which corporate feudalism has replaced democratic nations, with entire sectors of the economy consolidated under single corporations. Instead of citizens governing themselves, subjects live in cities ruled by corporations that demand unwavering fealty.</p>
<p>The corporations provide for their vassals, giving them material comforts and entertainment, which work to assuage resentments fueled by rigid social inequality. Jewison’s glassy-eyed characters pop pleasure pills like Tic Tacs to zone out and dream of being executives making decisions, even as they can’t even approach that sort of agency, power and control. </p>
<p>The oligopoly asks only that no one interfere with corporate imperatives. </p>
<p>Unable to find meaning as individuals, people instead seek it out in media spectacles like Rollerball, a kind of motorcycle roller derby meets football meets basketball. </p>
<p>Each major city has a Rollerball team that helps residents channel their aggression and cultivate a sense of belonging. Jonathan E., played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001001/">James Caan</a>, competes for Houston, a city owned by the Energy Corporation. </p>
<p>Rollerball serves an enormous social purpose, because it acts as a form of entertainment while also reinforcing the idea that corporate society, as one executive says, “is an inevitability.” </p>
<p>Though it allows for rare individuals to rise out of poverty to fame when chosen by the corporation, all of them are eventually sacrificed to the brutality of the game or to shifting corporate priorities. The audience learns that corporations make all decisions and that strength is power. </p>
<p>According to Bartholomew, the head of the Energy Corporation, “the game is designed to break men,” revealing people to be as disposable and fungible as pistons or rods in a machine. </p>
<p>Jonathan E. is the one player who can’t be broken; he starts to resent the executives telling him what to do, and he wants to know how corporate decisions are made. Who decided to take his wife from him one day and reassign her to serve as the wife of an executive in Rome? Why can’t he choose the path his life will take?</p>
<p>The owners eventually decide that Jonathan E. is getting bigger than the game, and that his popularity as a player is a threat to their control. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe1NTpPIyEs">They want him gone and order him to retire</a>. When Jonathan refuses, the executives change the rules of the game so he’ll be killed. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The corporation asks Jonathan E. to retire.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He survives and keeps investigating. But he can’t find any information.</p>
<p>There are no newspapers serving the public – no libraries or books to consult. The only people allowed to answer questions are “corporate teachers,” who impart information based upon instruction from executives.</p>
<p>Jonathan E. eventually travels to the oligopoly’s database, an artificial intelligence named Zero, or the “world’s brain,” as its chief computer scientist calls it. All human knowledge is stored on it. But because Zero’s <a href="https://youtu.be/QjYvdURv3Zw?si=gIUHI_DHXpxl9yZB">interpretations, analyses and outputs</a> must constantly realign with the whims of the executives, there is no shared sense of truth or reality.</p>
<h2>Journalistic phlebotomy</h2>
<p>I can’t help but think of “Rollerball” as the journalism industry continues to crater. Like most sectors of the economy, the news sector is controlled by a handful of owners, and most of them have prioritized profits over serving the public interest. </p>
<p>If the media layoffs, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-death-of-pitchfork-is-worrying-news-for-music-journalism-and-the-women-who-read-it-221702">mergers and acquisitions</a> of January 2024 are any indication, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/27/is-the-journalism-death-spasm-finally-here-00138187">it’s shaping up to be another brutal year for the industry</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers at the Medill School’s Local News Initiative predict that one-third of community newspapers that operated in 2005 <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/16/newspapers-decline-hedge-funds-research">will be gone by the end of 2024</a>. In January 2024, the owners of two venerable legacy news reorganizations, The Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun, decided the bottom line was more important than their ability to gather news.</p>
<p>The Baltimore Sun has suffered through the sort of ownership malpractice affecting local papers everywhere – a kind of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlebotomy">phlebotomy where corporate owners buy newspapers</a> and, in the name of “saving” them, bleed them dry. </p>
<p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/alden-global-capital-killing-americas-newspapers/620171/">the private equity fund Alden Global Capital</a> acquired the Sun and <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/178181/baltimore-sun-new-owner-smith-sinclair-insult-everyone-staff">200 other newspapers across the country from Tribune Publishing</a>. Then, they drained newsrooms of resources, leaving them as shells of their former selves – places that cheaply churned out syndicated content, rather than focus on the issues important to the communities where they were located. </p>
<p>The Sun’s new owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s David Smith, made his fortune plundering local broadcast news, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc">draining their local community value and turning them into</a> outlets centered on national politics, rather than local issues, with a right-wing slant that mirrored his own. Smith is <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/178181/baltimore-sun-new-owner-smith-sinclair-insult-everyone-staff">signaling he’ll do the same thing with The Baltimore Sun</a>. I won’t be surprised if he ends up morphing what’s left of the paper into another mouthpiece for his pet issues, rather than one that serves Baltimore’s public interest. </p>
<p>The Los Angeles Times has suffered a slow bleed by a succession of owners. It, too, was owned briefly by Tribune Publishing <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-patrick-soon-shiong-latimes-sold-20180616-story.html">before being acquired</a> by billionaire doctor and pharmaceutical executive Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2018. </p>
<p>On Jan. 23, 2024, Soon-Shiong decided that <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/01/the-la-times-lays-off-115-people-with-the-de-los-and-washington-d-c-teams-especially-hard-hit/">the LA Times should fire 23% of its reporters</a> and close parts of its multimedia portfolio <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/journalists-color-hit-hard-l-layoffs-rcna135351">that served the city’s marginalized residents</a>.</p>
<h2>Owners versus the public good</h2>
<p>The oligopoly of owners who are consolidating and liquidating media outlets are asking citizens to be satisfied with the information they provide – much like the corporate overlords of “Rollerball.” </p>
<p>People can spend hours entertained by thrilling bowl games, experience outrage and schadenfreude on social media, and get sucked into AI-boosted infotainment at their pleasure. All they have to do is acquiesce to the sovereignty of private corporations and give up their freedom to govern themselves. </p>
<p>A half-century ago, Jewison warned that a corporate-owned world would threaten the democratic world. In “Rollerball,” Jonathan E. remains unsatisfied that all knowledge communicated through the media is determined by hidden executives. With black box algorithms choosing what content appears on news feeds and social media feeds, it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-algorithms-warp-how-people-learn-from-each-other-research-shows-211172">eerily similar to the predicament society faces today</a>. </p>
<p>“Why argue about decisions you are not powerful enough to make yourself,” the executives point out to Jonathan E. “Just enjoy your ‘privilege card.’” </p>
<p>And yet when asked to choose between “comfort and freedom,” Jonathan chooses freedom. </p>
<p>Resisting corporate domination of media won’t be easy, either. But it’s necessary in order to prevent U.S. democracy from slipping into plutocracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Jordan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the journalism industry continues to crater, wealthy plutocrats are consolidating their control over information systems.Matthew Jordan, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077792023-06-29T12:17:01Z2023-06-29T12:17:01ZDisasters like bridge collapses put transportation agencies’ emergency plans to the test<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584441/original/file-20240326-18-k42fw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C5150%2C3193&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, collapsing a section of the bridge. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MarylandBridgeCollapse/3ab19a4aa7274ec49065520bb79aa9ea/photo">AP Photo/Steve Ruark</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A container ship <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-53169b379820032f832de4016c655d1b">rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore</a> around 1:30 a.m. on March 26, 2024, causing a portion of the bridge to collapse into Baltimore Harbor. Officials called the event a mass casualty and were searching for people in the waters of the busy port.</em> </p>
<p><em>This event occurred less than a year after <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/06/11/bridge-collapse-philadelphia-interstate-95/">a portion of Interstate 95 collapsed</a> in north Philadelphia during a truck fire. That disaster was initially expected to snarl traffic for months, but a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/23/i-95-bridge-reopening-friday/70349844007/">temporary six-lane roadway</a> was constructed in 12 days to serve motorists while a permanent overpass was rebuilt.</em></p>
<p><em>U.S. cities often face similar challenges when <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-cracked-i-40-bridge-creates-headache-traffic-shipping-n1267187">routine wear and tear</a>, <a href="https://abc7news.com/loma-prieta-quake-earthquake-when-was-magnitude/5605965/">natural disasters</a> or major accidents damage roads and bridges. Transportation engineer <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RxdHmbMAAAAJ&hl=en">Lee D. Han</a> explains how planners, transit agencies and city governments anticipate and manage these disruptions.</em></p>
<h2>How do agencies plan for disruptions like this?</h2>
<p>Planning is a central mission for state and metropolitan transportation agencies. </p>
<p>Traditional long-term planning focuses on anticipating and preparing for growing and shifting transportation demand patterns. These changes are driven by regional and national economic and population trends. </p>
<p>Shorter-term planning is about ensuring mobility and safety during service disruptions. These events can include construction, major scheduled events like <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/bonnaroo-traffic-tdot-prepares-for-traffic-in-manchester/">music festivals</a>, traffic incidents such as crashes and hazardous material spills, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9488(2007)133:1(3)">emergency evacuations</a>, and events like the bridge collapse in Baltimore.</p>
<p>Agencies have limited resources, so they typically set priorities based on how likely a given scenario is, its potential adverse effects and the countermeasures that officials have available. </p>
<p>For bridges, the <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/">Federal Highway Administration</a> sets standards and requires states to carry out periodic inspections. In addition, agencies develop a detouring plan for each bridge in case of a structural failure or service disruption. In Baltimore, Key Bridge traffic will be <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/travel-around-francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-baltimore-traffic/">routed through two tunnels</a> that pass under the harbor, but trucks carrying hazardous materials will have to take longer detours.</p>
<p>Major bridges, such as those at Mississippi River crossings, are crucial to the nation’s economy and security. They require significant planning, commitment and coordination between multiple agencies. There usually are multiple contingency plans in place to deal with immediate traffic control, incident response and field operations during longer-term bridge repair or reconstruction projects. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Francis Scott Key Bridge carries more than 30,000 vehicles daily past the Port of Baltimore, which serves many container ships daily.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are some major challenges of rerouting traffic?</h2>
<p>Bridges are potential choke points in highway networks. When a bridge fails, traffic immediately stops and begins to flow elsewhere, even without a formal detouring plan. Transportation agencies need to build or find excess capacity before a bridge fails, so that the disrupted traffic has alternative routes. </p>
<p>This is usually manageable in major urban areas that have many parallel routes and bridges and built-in redundancy in their road networks. But for rural areas, failure of a major bridge can mean extra hours or even days of travel. </p>
<p>When traffic has to be rerouted off an interstate highway, it can cause safety and access problems. If large trucks are diverted to local streets that were not designed for such vehicles, they may get stuck on railroad tracks or in spaces too small for them to turn around. Heavy trucks can damage roads and bridges with low weight limits, and tall trucks may be too large to fit through low-clearance underpasses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A highway at night, jammed with traffic on one side, the other side empty." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584443/original/file-20240326-30-m7kk1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traffic is jammed on I-10 westbound amid evacuations ahead of Hurricane Delta on Oct. 8, 2020, in Lake Charles, Louisiana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/traffic-is-jammed-on-i-10-westbound-amid-evacuations-ahead-news-photo/1279252464">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Successful rerouting requires a lot of coordination between agencies and jurisdictions. They may have to adjust road signal timing to deal with extra cars and changed traffic patterns. Local drivers may need to be directed away from these alternative routes to prevent major congestion. </p>
<p>It’s also important to communicate with navigation apps like <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/about/#!/">Google Maps</a> and <a href="https://www.waze.com/apps/">Waze</a>, which every driver has access to. Route choices that speed up individual trips may cause serious congestion if everyone decides to take the same alternate route and it doesn’t have enough capacity to handle the extra traffic.</p>
<h2>Can these events permanently change commuting and traffic patterns?</h2>
<p>In some cases, yes. Some repairs take months, such as the 2022 crack in the <a href="https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2022-02-21/how-authorities-missed-the-flaw-that-nearly-brought-down-the-i-40-bridge">I-40 Hernando De Soto Bridge</a> across the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee. Others can stretch over years, such as the 2007 collapse of the <a href="https://www.lrl.mn.gov/guides/guides?issue=bridges">I-35W bridge</a> in Minneapolis. Some structures are rebuilt elsewhere, like the <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/marchapril-1998/replacing-oaklands-cypress-freeway">I-880 Cypress Street viaduct</a> in Oakland, California, which collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. </p>
<p>While traffic is disrupted, motorists change their commute patterns or may even switch to other modes, such as buses or commuter rail. But after repairs are completed, even if some commuters don’t return to their old routes, new traffic soon will take advantage of the restored capacity. In the end, it’s hard to tell just by looking at usage whether commuters have changed their travel patterns permanently.</p>
<h2>Will money from the 2021 infrastructure bill reduce the risk of these kinds of events?</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, things do fall apart. U.S. infrastructure has been <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/">deteriorating for decades</a>. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association has estimated that <a href="https://artbabridgereport.org/">1 in 3 U.S. bridges need repair</a>. </p>
<p>At the current rate, we are unlikely to catch up to a state of good repair any time soon. But strategic investments like the 2021 infrastructure bill can likely help repair and address critical deterioration concerns for some high-risk bridges, roads, dams and other structures. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This time-lapse video shows crews working around the clock to build a temporary roadway at the site of a collapsed overpass on Interstate 95 in north Philadelphia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Can public transit fill part of the gap?</h2>
<p>Public transit may be able to fill the gap in several ways when key roadway links are destroyed or damaged.</p>
<p>Fixed-route rail transit services, such as Washington, D.C.’s Metro and commuter rail services in Chicago, typically have exclusive rights of way, which let them travel at higher speed than buses on surface streets. They also have high capacity that can be increased by adding more cars to each train or running trains more frequently. </p>
<p>If those systems’ routes are not disrupted due to something like a bridge collapse, they may be able to operate above their normal loads. Drivers can shift to transit as long as their trip origins and destinations are conveniently located near transit stations.</p>
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<p>Bus transit services don’t usually have exclusive rights of way or means to add extra carrying capacity per vehicle. But they have more flexibility to extend the service areas that they cover and connect otherwise non-walkable locales.</p>
<p>Coordinating use of various transit services and creatively adjusting bus lines could address some local travel needs, such as daily commutes and school and shopping trips. But local public transit services struggle to fill longer-distance gaps that extend beyond their service areas.</p>
<p>In major urban areas like Philadelphia that have large populations and have invested a lot in their transit systems, public transit could carry as much as 25% of daily commute trips. But for disruptions outside of major cities, such as a bridge collapse on an interstate highway in a rural area, public transit probably won’t have much of a role.</p>
<p>It’s also important to note that public transit services are for moving people. Freight shipments, which rely on trucks and other specialized vehicles, also need to get through or around disrupted zones. This often requires large commercial trucks either to use nearby local streets that weren’t designed for such big, heavy vehicles, or to make long-distance detours. That increases delays, pollution, safety risks and transportation costs that will eventually be passed on to consumers.</p>
<p><em>This is an update of an article originally published on June 29, 2023.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207779/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lee D. Han receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Transportation. </span></em></p>Transportation agencies plan for events like major bridge or highway collapses, but these events can disrupt traffic for months and affect residential neighborhoods as well as motorists.Lee D. Han, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050092023-05-23T12:27:30Z2023-05-23T12:27:30ZMore than two dozen cities and states are suing Big Oil over climate change – they just got a boost from the US Supreme Court<p>Honolulu has lost <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">more than 5 miles</a> of its famous beaches to sea level rise and storm surges. Sunny-day flooding during high tides makes many city roads impassable, and water mains for the public drinking water system are corroding from saltwater because of sea level rise.</p>
<p>The damage has left the city and county spending millions of dollars on repairs and infrastructure to try to adapt to the rising risks.</p>
<p>Future costs will almost certainly be higher. More than US$19 billion in property value, at today’s dollars, is at risk by 2100 from projected sea level rise, driven by greenhouse gas emissions largely from the burning of fossil fuels. Elsewhere in Honolulu County, which covers all of Oahu, many coastal communities will be cut off or uninhabitable.</p>
<p>Unwilling to have their taxpayers bear the full brunt of these costs, the <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">city and county sued</a> Sunoco LP, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other big oil companies in 2020.</p>
<p>Their case – one of <a href="https://climateintegrity.org/cases">more than two dozen</a> involving <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527655/original/file-20230523-14019-49gxsv.png">U.S. cities, counties and states suing the oil industry</a> over climate change – just got a break from the U.S. Supreme Court. That has significantly increased their odds of succeeding.</p>
<h2>Suing over the cost of climate change</h2>
<p>At stake in all of these cases is who pays for the staggering cost of a changing climate.</p>
<p>Local and state governments that are suing want to hold the major oil companies responsible for the costs of responding to disasters that scientists are increasingly <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/10/04/attribution-science-linking-climate-change-to-extreme-weather/">able to attribute</a> to climate disruption and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8">tie back to the fossil fuel industry</a>. Several of the plaintiffs accuse the companies of lying to the public about their products’ risks in violation of state or local consumer protection laws that prohibit false advertising.</p>
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<p>The governments in the <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">Honolulu case allege</a> that the oil companies “are directly responsible” for a substantial rise in carbon dioxide emissions that have been driving climate change. They say the companies should contribute their <a href="https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/fair-share-for-the-fossil-fuel-industry/">fair share</a> to defray some of the costs.</p>
<p>The gist of Honolulu’s complaint is that the big oil companies <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063">have known for decades</a> that their products cause climate change, yet their public statements continued to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-big-oil-knew-about-climate-change-in-its-own-words-170642">sow doubts</a> about <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-was-an-exxon-funded-climate-scientist-49855">what was known</a>, and they failed to warn their customers, investors and the public about the dangers posed by their products. </p>
<p>Were it not for this deception, the lawsuit says, the city and county would not be facing mounting costs of abating the damage from climate change.</p>
<p>Importantly, the complaint is based on state – not federal – law. It alleges that the defendants have violated established common law rules long recognized by the courts involving nuisance, failure to warn and trespass.</p>
<p>The city and county want the companies to help fund climate adaptation measures – everything from building seawalls and raising buildings to buying flood-prone properties and restoring beaches and dunes.</p>
<h2>Supreme Court could have killed these cases</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, the oil companies have thrown their vast legal resources into fighting these cases.</p>
<p>On April 24, however, they lost one of their most powerful arguments.</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/042423zor_1p24.pdf">declined to hear challenges</a> in the Hawaii case and four others involving the seemingly technical question of which court should hear these cases: state or federal.</p>
<p>The oil companies had “<a href="https://www.bonalaw.com/insights/legal-resources/requirements-for-removing-a-case-from-state-court-to-federal-court">removed</a>” the cases from state court to federal court, <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/case/city-county-of-honolulu-v-sunoco-lp/">arguing that damage lawsuits</a> for climate change go beyond the limits of state law and are governed by federal law. </p>
<p>That theory would have derailed all five cases – because there is no federal common law for greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>The court made that position clear in 2011 in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/10-174">American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut</a>. Several state and local governments had sued five major power companies for violating the federal common law of interstate nuisance and asked for a court order forcing these companies to reduce their emissions. The Supreme Court refused, holding that the federal Clean Air Act displaced federal common law for these gases. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/09-17490/09-17490-2012-09-21.html">Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp.</a>, a federal court of appeals extended that holding to also bar claims for monetary damages based on federal common law.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sandbags sit outside a home near a beach in Oahu, Hawaii, where waves have eaten into the shoreline almost up to the house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several coastal communities, including in Honolulu County, facing increasing erosion want oil companies to help pay for protective infrastructure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/4c2fc5b90f894fe7963daeb19724bce4?ext=true">AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To avoid this fate, Honolulu and the other plaintiffs focused on violations of state law, not federal law. Without exception, the federal courts of appeals sided with them and sent the cases back to state court.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The Honolulu case leads the pack at this point.</p>
<p>In 2022, the 1st Circuit Court in Hawaii <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2022/20220203_docket-1CCV-20-0000380_ruling.pdf">denied the oil companies’ motion</a> to dismiss the case based on the argument that the Clean Air Act also preempts state common law. This could open the door for discovery to begin sometime this year.</p>
<p>In discovery, senior corporate officers – perhaps including <a href="https://theconversation.com/exxons-rex-tillerson-and-the-rise-of-big-oil-in-american-politics-70260">former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson</a>, who was secretary of state under Donald Trump – will be required to answer questions under oath about what the companies knew about climate change versus what they disclosed to the public.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rex Tillerson, a smiling older man in a suit and tie, walks out of a courthouse with security guards." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2019, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson testified in a securities fraud lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general’s office. The judge ruled in Exxon’s favor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ExxonClimateLawsuit/cc7e743167614cb4bf7a4ec99319422f/photo">AP Photo/Seth Wenig</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Evidence <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063">from Exxon documents</a>, described in a recent study by science historians Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran, shows that the company’s own scientists “knew as much as academic and government scientists knew” about climate change going back decades. But instead of communicating what they knew, “Exxon worked to deny it,” Supran and Oreskes write. The company overemphasized uncertainties and cast doubt on climate models.</p>
<p>This is the kind of evidence that could sway a jury. The standard of proof in a civil case like Honolulu’s is “preponderance of the evidence,” which roughly translates to 51%. Ten of the 12 jurors must agree on a verdict.</p>
<p>Any verdict likely would be appealed, perhaps all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it could be years before the Honolulu case is resolved.</p>
<h2>Lawsuits don’t begin to cover the damage</h2>
<p>It is unlikely that even substantial verdicts in these cases will come close to covering the full costs of damage from climate change.</p>
<p>According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/2022-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters-historical-context">in 2022 alone the U.S. sustained</a> 18 weather and climate disasters that each exceeded $1 billion in damage. Together, they cost over $165 billion.</p>
<p>But for many of the communities most at risk from these disasters, every penny counts. We believe establishing the oil companies’ responsibility may also discourage further investments in fossil fuel production by banks and brokerage houses already nervous about the <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_it/banking-capital-markets-risk-regulatory-transformation/climate-change-and-risk-three-key-challenges-facing-banks">financial risks</a> of climate disruption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205009/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Honolulu, Baltimore, Charleston, S.C. and several other cities harmed by rising seas and extreme weather are suing the oil industry. At stake is who pays for the staggering costs of climate change.Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law Emeritus, Vermont Law & Graduate SchoolJohn Dernbach, Professor of Law, Widener UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1990782023-02-07T13:34:09Z2023-02-07T13:34:09ZMemphis police numbers dropped by nearly a quarter in recent years – were staffing shortages a factor in the killing of Tyre Nichols?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508464/original/file-20230206-15-5bqd42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C88%2C4876%2C3177&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dwindling numbers means more inexperienced officers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MemphisPoliceReform/4f92c57fa8604c258a8ae2a81288ed30/photo?Query=memphis%20police&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=743&currentItemNo=191">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the years running up to the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis Police Department faced an increasingly dire <a href="https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/06/17/mpd-makes-adjustment-handle-staff-shortages/">staffing crisis</a>. Indeed, <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/02/15/memphis-police-seek-to-add-300-officers/">shortages on the force</a> have led to questions over whether, given their relative lack of experience, the five officers now charged with Nichols’ murder <a href="https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/01/tyre-nichols-tragic-death-happened-despite-police-reforms-enacted-to-prevent-it-opinion.html">would have been assigned to the now-disbanded SCORPION unit</a> – or <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/01/30/could-lower-standards-for-police-recruits-breed-future-misconduct/">even hired in the first place</a>.</p>
<p>Memphis <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/19/us/police-staffing-shortages-recruitment/index.html">isn’t alone in confronting the issue</a> of dwindling officer numbers. In January 2023, the federal judge monitoring the Baltimore Police Department said <a href="https://www.wbaltv.com/article/judge-baltimore-police-consent-decree-officer-recruitment/42672197%5D(https://www.wbaltv.com/article/judge-baltimore-police-consent-decree-officer-recruitment/42672197">a severe staffing shortage there is causing slow reform progress</a> as the agency attempts to comply with a <a href="https://consentdecree.baltimorecity.gov/">federal consent decree</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ypvpo1gAAAAJ&hl=en">We are</a> <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-public-affairs-and-community-service/criminology-and-criminal-justice/about-us/justin-nix.php">criminologists</a>, two with <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/criminology_and_criminal_justice/our_people/directory/adams_ian.php">experience as police officers</a>, who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12556">study police turnover</a> and its effects on agencies and communities. In jurisdictions across the U.S., we’ve seen how police departments are experiencing significant changes to the three main variables in police staffing: recruitment, resignations and retirements.</p>
<p>We’ve also seen that these changes are likely to <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/linking-the-workforce-crisis-crime-and-response-time/">deteriorate the quality of policing</a> and may give rise to more incidents of officer misconduct, increased violent crime, decreased policing services and a failure to meet community and professional standards. The investigation into <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/tyre-nichols-memphis-police-dead.html">what happened in Memphis, Tennessee, on Jan. 7</a> is still ongoing, but we believe the effect of staff shortages and the experience levels of the officers involved in Nichols’ death should form part of the inquiry.</p>
<h2>Turnover in Memphis</h2>
<p>Since 2011, the earliest year of staffing data available on the <a href="https://data.memphistn.gov/Public-Safety/Police-Headcount/iwk8-fxnz">Memphis Data Hub</a>, the Memphis Police Department’s number of sworn officers has dropped by 22.6% – from a high of 2,449 officers in September 2011 to a low of 1,895 officers in December 2022.</p>
<p>When an agency loses this many officers, one consequence can be that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-police-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-rcna67711">more inexperienced officers</a> end up in <a href="http://theconversation.com/tyre-nichols-death-underscores-the-troubled-history-of-specialized-police-units-198851">specialized details like SCORPION</a>, as agencies struggle to fill gaps in their operations. </p>
<p>In response to staffing shortfalls and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/memphis-violence-reduction-murder-crime-rate-policing/671877/">rising crime</a>, the Memphis Police Department <a href="https://www.actionnews5.com/story/38513242/mpd-makes-changes-to-college-requirements-for-recruits">relaxed its hiring standards</a> in 2018, such as by no longer requiring a college degree to begin working as a police officer.</p>
<p>However, this approach only temporarily improved staffing levels. After <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html">mass racial justice protests</a> in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the trend reversed as the agency began losing officers again. This downward trend surpassed the lows that previously led to lowered hiring standards in 2018.</p>
<p><iframe id="4fWvf" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4fWvf/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Turnover takes different forms, and in our analysis, the Memphis Police Department has seen a distinct increase in the number of officers leaving the agency voluntarily, prior to retirement. The department experienced a significant spike in resignations since the summer of 2020, losing an additional 75 officers to resignations compared with what would have been expected based on trends in years past. This increase in resignations equates to an additional 3.3% of the Memphis Police Department leaving in just two years.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507706/original/file-20230201-17282-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The monthly count of officers resigning from the Memphis Police Department, from January 2011 to January 2023. The blue line shows a change in the trend from May 1, 2020. The yellow line represents the expected level of resignations in the post-period.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://data.memphistn.gov/Public-Safety/Police-Headcount/iwk8-fxnz">Adams/Mourtgos/Nix</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A national trend</h2>
<p>Concern about staffing shortages is not confined to Memphis and Baltimore. Over the past three years, police recruitment and retention have been <a href="https://www.policeforum.org/workforcesurveyjune2021">key concerns</a> for jurisdictions across the country.</p>
<p>We monitor police staffing levels in several agencies across the U.S. In one large, Western police department, we found that in the seven months following the Floyd protests, voluntary resignations of sworn officers were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12556">nearly three times (279%) higher than baseline expectations</a>.</p>
<p>In some places, extreme staffing pressure has led to <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/linking-the-workforce-crisis-crime-and-response-time/">rapid increases in police response times</a> to emergencies. For example, in Salt Lake City, the police staffing crisis <a href="https://www.slcpd.com/open-data/response-times/">led to response times nearly doubling</a> for priority calls in 2020 and 2021. </p>
<p>In conversations with police chiefs and other leaders at smaller and suburban agencies, we hear that they have faced a lower-intensity staffing challenge for <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG959.pdf">more than a decade</a>.</p>
<p>However, those at larger, metropolitan agencies nationwide say the crisis has boiled over, and they fear they are losing the ability to provide baseline levels of service. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/us/police-retirements-resignations-recruits.html">Both groups of police executives</a> directly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/25/us/police-officer-recruits.html">link the staffing crisis to fallout from the 2020 George Floyd protests</a>.</p>
<h2>Transfers, retirements and $30,000 bonuses</h2>
<p>Although our studies do not follow individual officers, <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/01/21/police-hiring-government-jobs-decline">recent reporting by The Marshall Project</a> uses yearly federal economic data to show that nationally the police profession experienced a small decline in total employees – including both sworn officers and civilian staff – between March 2020 and August 2022.</p>
<p>This may reflect agencies offering highly lucrative bonuses for officers willing to transfer agencies, rather than swarms of officers leaving the profession altogether. </p>
<p>When speaking with police chiefs in large agencies, a consistent story emerges: They say officers are not leaving the profession, but instead are leaving for other nearby agencies that offer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/nyregion/new-york-police-department-attrition.html">better pay and a more positive work environment</a>.</p>
<p>This phenomenon, known as “lateral transfers,” is rapidly shifting officers away from large, urban departments and toward smaller police agencies and sheriff’s departments.</p>
<p>In an ongoing study, we analyze turnover data from 14 large agencies over the last decade and observe that one suburban agency and one sheriff’s department actually experienced decreases in resignations and retirements during the period. Meanwhile, the large urban departments in our sample generally experienced surges in resignations and retirements since the summer of 2020, indicating there are turnover patterns that benefit some agencies, while harming others.</p>
<p>It makes economic sense for agencies to compete for already trained officers. Turnover is expensive. Hiring and training a new officer can cost <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/recruitment-retention-and-turnover-police-personnel-reliable">one to five times the annual salary</a> of an individual officer.</p>
<p>Agencies can save on these costs by competing for already trained officers, as they have already passed background checks and committed to the profession to some degree. Severe labor shortages have resulted in agencies turning to lateral bonuses, offering large financial benefits to attract already certified officers from other agencies. The Seattle and New Orleans police departments now offer <a href="https://krcrtv.com/news/nation-world/police-departments-staffing-shortage-rising-crime-rates-solution-united-states-hiring-bonus-hollywood-thin-blue-line-cops-recruits-training-los-angeles-officers-americans-first-responders-law-enforcement">$30,000 bonuses to attract trained officers</a>.</p>
<p>The police staffing crisis has been exacerbated by the ongoing retirement wave of officers hired through <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/weekinreview/the-nation-new-cops-need-help-the-perils-of-police-hiring.html">funding from the 1994 crime bill</a>. The bill, led by then-Senator Joe Biden, directed over $8 billion to hiring an additional 100,000 police officers nationwide in order to combat crime. However, officers hired with that federal money are now retiring, adding additional staffing pressure as the most experienced officers leave the profession in the same wave that brought them in. </p>
<h2>Focus on public safety</h2>
<p>The International Association of Chiefs of Police <a href="https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/239416_IACP_RecruitmentBR_HR_0.pdf">surveyed its members in 2019</a> and found that 75% were experiencing greater recruitment challenges, with 25% reducing or eliminating some services as a result.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tyre-nichols-death-underscores-the-troubled-history-of-specialized-police-units-198851">Tyre Nichols' death underscores the troubled history of specialized police units</a>
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<p>Good policing requires good police officers. To live up to community expectations and fulfill the general policing mission of improving public safety, we believe local leaders need to <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/performance-based-approach-police-staffing-and-allocation">adequately staff their police agencies</a> so that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/ajle_a_00030">under-policing does not continue</a> to <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aeri.20200792">negatively impact the communities they serve</a>.</p>
<p>Because staffing shortages involve agencies across the nation, and in many cases pit agencies against one another in competition for ever-decreasing pools of talent, it will likely require federal and state action to address effectively. President Biden has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/01/fact-sheet-president-bidens-safer-america-plan-2/#:%7E:text=The%20Plan%20will%3A,over%20the%20next%20five%20years.">proposed $10.9 billion to help hire an additional 100,000 police officers</a> over the next five years. Adding more officers will help, but so too will keeping officers in the profession, especially in the <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/new-orleans-murder-surge-puts-young-black-men-at-high-risk/article_7a875126-a0ce-11ed-ac2b-f73126bb8b2a.html">communities most impacted</a> by <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/violent-crime-in-cities-on-the-rise">historic increases in violent crime</a>. </p>
<p>Addressing this issue will require the collaboration of police leaders and their communities to determine what level of police services they require, as well as financial support from state and federal levels to ensure police agencies can improve, rather than degrade, their workforces.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Police departments have faced recruitment and retention problems since the 2020 George Floyd protests. It has meant some agencies have had to lower standards to attract new officers.Ian T. Adams, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South CarolinaJustin Nix, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska OmahaScott M. Mourtgos, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, University of UtahLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1988512023-02-01T19:15:05Z2023-02-01T19:15:05ZTyre Nichols’ death underscores the troubled history of specialized police units<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507650/original/file-20230201-8653-ncdbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3722%2C2093&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of Memphis' SCORPION unit were behind the brutal beating of a suspect.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MemphisPoliceForceInvestigation/9536d0e992af49cbb5b1f5d928e3a160/photo?Query=Tyre%20Nichols%20officers&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=300&currentItemNo=104">City of Memphis via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyre-nichols-death-investigation-memphis-police-officers-charges-what-we-know/">officers charged</a> in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/27/us/tyre-nichols-police-beating-timeline.html">fatal beating of Tyre Nichols</a> were not your everyday uniformed patrol officers.</p>
<p>Rather, they were part of an elite squad: Memphis Police Department’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html">SCORPION team</a>. A rather tortured acronym for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods,” SCORPION is a crime suppression unit – that is, officers detailed specifically to prevent, detect and interrupt violent crime by proactively using stops, frisks, searches and arrests. Such specialized units are common in forces across the U.S. and tend to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/30/dc-police-special-squad/">rely on aggressive policing</a> tactics.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/criminology_and_criminal_justice/our_people/directory/adams_ian.php">academics who</a> <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/faculty_and_staff/directory/stoughton_seth.php">study policing</a>, and as former officers ourselves, we have long been aware of potential problems with such specialized units. Treating aggressive crime fighting as the highest priority in policing can cultivate a corrosive culture in which bad behavior is often tolerated, even encouraged – to the <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL261/better-policing-toolkit/all-strategies/zero-tolerance/in-depth.html">detriment of community relations</a>. Changing that pattern requires wrestling with complexities of policing in modern society.</p>
<h2>From Prohibition to the war on drugs</h2>
<p>Crime suppression units, sometimes called “violence reduction units” or “street crimes units,” have a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/31/scorpion-police-units-harm-communities/">long and often sordid history</a> in the United States.</p>
<p>Such specialized units are usually set up to address specific issues, such as drug trafficking or gang crime. An early precedent to modern crime suppression units can be seen in the squads set up by the federal Bureau of Prohibition and their local counterparts during the 1920s. These squads were charged with enforcing newly passed alcohol laws but <a href="https://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/enforcing-the-prohibition-laws/law-enforcement-during-prohibition/">often lacked the training or numbers to support their mission</a>. The predictable result was the unlawful <a href="https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/prohibition-bureau-bureau-of-prohibition/">killing of civilians and corruption</a>. Indeed, the <a href="https://law.jrank.org/pages/11309/Wickersham-Commission.html">Wickersham Commission report</a>, released in the early 1930s, shows how the power that goes with being part of a specialized unit can be corrosive. It noted that the “unfortunate public expressions [by police] approving killings and promiscuous shootings and lawless raids and seizures” can lead to the alienation of “thoughtful citizens, believers in law and order.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo shows police officers in 1920s uniforms pouring out liquid from a barrel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507688/original/file-20230201-16382-rsj2qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prohibition police units often overstepped the mark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cambridge-officer-patrick-f-ready-has-his-ax-in-hand-as-the-news-photo/160467129?phrase=prohibition%20police%20US&adppopup=true">Hugh E. O'Donnell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In more recent times, police agencies have used specialized units to respond to violent crime, often because of a surge in public demand for the police to “do something.” Investing in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/how-actually-fix-americas-police/612520/">a more robust public safety infrastructure</a> is expensive, politically fraught and, even if successful, could take decades to reap rewards. So instead of addressing social problems, such as poverty and lack of economic opportunity, elected officials turn to police leaders, who often reach for a familiar tool: <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/addressing-violent-crime-more-effectively">aggressive enforcement tactics</a>. Such an approach is intended to prevent, detect and interrupt crime, and to <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674248908">identify, apprehend and punish</a> criminal offenders. </p>
<h2>When cops ‘own the city’</h2>
<p>That was exactly the pattern in Memphis, where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/us/memphis-shooting-gun-violence.html">violent crime</a> in 2020 and 2021 experienced <a href="https://memphiscrime.org/the-stats/">a significant increase</a>, with a per capita murder rate that put it among the most dangerous cities in the nation. These historic rises in homicides were in contrast to <a href="https://memphiscrime.org/the-stats/">dramatically lower rates</a> just a few years before.</p>
<p>In 2021, the city hired Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, who bluntly described <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html">her vision</a>: “being tough on tough people.”</p>
<p>As homicides soared, Memphis established the SCORPION team, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/scorpion-unit-memphis-police-task-force-center-tyre/story?id=96720313">assigning 40 officers to clean up the most crime-ridden parts</a> of the city. Both Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Chief Davis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html">celebrated</a> the number of arrests that the SCORPION team’s officers made, along with the guns, cash and vehicles they seized.</p>
<p>Positions in specialized units come with prestige, flexibility and the lure of future promotions. In better times, membership is restricted to officers with more experience and training. But as the Memphis Police Department lost around 23% of its sworn personnel between 2013 and 2018, <a href="https://www.actionnews5.com/story/38513242/mpd-makes-changes-to-college-requirements-for-recruits">the department lowered overall minimum standards</a> for officers, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-police-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-rcna67711">inexperienced officers were appointed to SCORPION</a> – <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-police-officers-charged-48d48f2137a2f34482274edb1bd1bab2">including those now charged</a> with murdering Tyre Nichols.</p>
<p>Memphis is far from alone. In 2007, the Baltimore Police Department <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e25f215b3dbd6661a25b79d/t/61dfb0a510a6fd7443dd5914/1642049707420/GTTF+Report_Executive+Summary-c2-c2-c2.pdf">set up the Gun Trace Task Force</a> to address illegal guns and violent crime. And before that, in the 1990s, the Los Angeles Police Department established the Rampart <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/scandal/crashculture.html">CRASH, or Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, unit</a>, which focused on gangs and violent crime. In New Orleans, the city’s police department viewed its task force officers, known as “jump out boys,” as “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf">enforcers and agents of crime control</a>.” </p>
<p>Scandal connects these units. In each case – and in many more – officers stepped over the line from aggressive enforcement to misconduct, abuse or even outright criminality. Members of the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force were <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/we-own-this-city-gun-trace-task-force-baltimore-hbo-1698924">eventually convicted on charges including robbery, racketeering and extortion</a>. Rampart CRASH unit officers <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/scandal/cron.html">robbed banks, stole narcotics and engaged in extrajudicial beatings of suspects</a>. The New Orleans Police Department was eventually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/us/plan-to-reform-new-orleans-police-department.html">placed under the oversight of a federal consent decree</a> after the jump out boys developed a reputation as “dirty cops, the ones who are going to be brutal,” in the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf">words of one sergeant</a>.</p>
<h2>Do the ends justify the means?</h2>
<p>These result were, for many, entirely foreseeable. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://thecrimereport.org/2020/01/27/renowned-policing-expert-herman-goldstein-dies-at-88/">eminent criminologist Herman Goldstein</a> wrote in 1977, problems arise when “the police […] place a higher priority on maintaining order than on operating legally.” Recent scholars refer to “<a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315162591/police-ethics-michael-caldero-brian-withrow-jeffrey-dailey">noble cause corruption</a>,” but readers are probably more familiar with a synonymous phrase: “the ends justify the means.”</p>
<p>Even when well-intentioned, prioritizing aggressive police enforcement can be deeply destructive. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12192">Research has found</a> that aggressive police units have significantly more use-of-force incidents and public complaints, while also having fewer complaints against them upheld. This suggests a culture in which some violations are tacitly approved so long as the unit is productive – that is, it makes arrests.</p>
<p>To a significant extent, this comes down to agency culture. A permissive culture, as researchers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(03)00002-3">have long recognized</a>, can both protect and corrupt the nature of policing. Every police department has a culture, but those best able to balance the missions of addressing violent crime and maintaining community support set about shaping and reinforcing their culture instead of leaving it to grow wild.</p>
<p>When aggressive police culture overwhelms the professional norms of constitutional policing, the public safety mission of policing breaks down. Chiefs are put into a difficult position – they must ensure that officers who use coercive authority in response to public demands for crime control also respect the legal limits of their authority.</p>
<p>The legitimacy of policing, we believe, depends on recognizing that while hyperaggressive tactics by young, often inexperienced officers in crime suppression units may contribute to short-term deterrence of some violent crime, those same tactics are very likely to leave a wake of public disgust and distrust behind. That can seriously undermine public safety efforts, including the investigation of violent crimes that rely heavily on community cooperation. </p>
<p>If the history of crime suppression units teaches us anything, it is that they must prioritize legal and <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248411.pdf">rightful policing</a> above aggressive crime fighting. To do otherwise is to risk becoming just another source of violence in already victimized communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The officers charged in the murder of a Black man in Memphis, Tenn., were part of the elite SCORPION squad. Such units have an ugly history.Ian T. Adams, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South CarolinaSeth W. Stoughton, Professor of Law, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909682022-09-21T06:13:40Z2022-09-21T06:13:40Z‘Serial’ podcast’s Adnan Syed has murder conviction vacated. How common are wrongful convictions?<p>In 2000, 18-year-old Baltimore man Adnan Syed was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. Syed was sentenced to life in prison and served close to 23 years in prison for the crime. </p>
<p>That was until this week, when Syed was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-20/adnan-syed-to-be-released-conviction-tossed/101456166">released from prison</a> at the age of 41 after his murder conviction was vacated by a Baltimore City Circuit Judge.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1571961432148942848"}"></div></p>
<p>The vacation of his conviction doesn’t mean Syed is formally recognised as innocent. Instead, Judge Melissa Phinn expressed serious concern over Syed’s initial conviction based on new evidence as well as evidence that was not handed over to Syed’s defence team. Syed and his supporters have always maintained his innocence. </p>
<p>Syed has been released from prison, but Phinn has ordered him to remain on house arrest. The state has 30 days to make a decision as to whether Syed will face a new trial, or whether the case will be dismissed.</p>
<p>While Syed’s fate remains undetermined, he’s just one of many people around the globe who have spent time in prison for crimes they strongly contend that they did not commit.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, wrongful convictions do happen, and they often share similar underlying causes.</p>
<h2>The case and the podcast</h2>
<p>The murder of Hae Min Lee was the first case featured on the highly popular podcast series <a href="https://serialpodcast.org/season-one">Serial</a>, one of the pioneers of the true-crime podcast genre.</p>
<p>It very quickly became one of the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/18/serial-podcast-itunes-apple-downloads-streams">rapidly downloaded podcasts of all time</a>, and the first series now boasts <a href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/about/our-other-shows#:%7E:text=Released%20in%2012%20episodes%2C%20Serial,more%20than%20300%20million%20downloads.">over 300 million downloads</a> worldwide since its release in 2014.</p>
<p>Lee was a senior high-school student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore, Maryland. She disappeared one day after school, and her body was found in a nearby park one month later. Based on the results of the autopsy, Lee had been strangled.</p>
<p>As Lee and Syed had dated not long before the time of Lee’s death, Syed became a prime suspect. Other suspects emerged, but none were investigated as closely as Syed. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1571957795267772419"}"></div></p>
<p>Cell tower records that placed Syed’s phone near the location of the park where Lee’s body was buried implicated him. A former classmate of Syed’s, Jay Wilds, also provided testimony indicating that he had assisted Syed with disposing Lee’s body. These two pieces of evidence ultimately formed the basis of the case against Syed that led to his eventual conviction.</p>
<p>After Syed was convicted, a close friend of the Syed family contacted reputable journalist Sarah Koenig in 2013, who independently investigated the case. Serial shone light on some of the oddities of the case, including the inconsistencies in the testimony given by Wilds and the lack of forensic evidence linking Syed to the crime.</p>
<p>For some, Serial consolidated the suspicion they held towards Syed, and for others, it cast serious doubt over his conviction. </p>
<p>The podcast’s popularity contributed to the ongoing fight for Syed’s freedom over the years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-clear-victory-for-dogged-investigative-journalism-chris-dawson-found-guilty-of-murdering-wife-lynette-in-1982-189625">'A clear victory for dogged investigative journalism': Chris Dawson found guilty of murdering wife Lynette in 1982</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How common are wrongful convictions?</h2>
<p>One problem with wrongful convictions is that it’s impossible to know exactly how frequent they are. This is because many people in prison who say they are innocent never receive the opportunity to have their cases reviewed.</p>
<p>Even if we <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0011128786032004007?casa_token=K2_pCtyEKioAAAAA:gaJGQYZ8Lv_dLp1SzAbq3a_4uRZw160M86GaoVGnUeMN78WAutnYjDJRTerrBFsHtQLH-_6NuRRClNc">conservatively estimate</a> that criminal convictions are accurate 99.5% of the time, an error rate of 0.5% could still result in thousands of wrongful convictions in the US alone each year.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/serial-murder-mystery-and-the-science-of-memory-34248">Serial: murder, mystery and the science of memory</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2020, The National Registry of Exonerations in the United States reported <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Government_Misconduct_and_Convicting_the_Innocent.pdf">over 2,600 exonerations</a> following wrongful convictions across the United States since 1989. That number is always on the rise. </p>
<p>In the closest Australian repository of wrongful convictions, there were <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Dioso-Villa/publication/318960757_A_Repository_of_Wrongful_Convictions_in_Australia_First_Steps_Toward_Estimating_Prevalence_and_Causal_Contributing_Factors/links/59a930ed0f7e9b279011eac8/A-Repository-of-Wrongful-Convictions-in-Australia-First-Steps-Toward-Estimating-Prevalence-and-Causal-Contributing-Factors.pdf">71 documented wrongful convictions between 1922 and 2015</a>.</p>
<h2>What often leads to a wrongful conviction?</h2>
<p>Wrongful convictions often share a common set of causes. The <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/about/">Innocence Project</a> was founded in 1992 and has overturned the wrongful convictions of 375 people in the United States using DNA evidence.</p>
<p>Based on the Innocence Project’s <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/">data</a>, the factors that are most common in wrongful conviction cases are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>mistaken eyewitness identification</p></li>
<li><p>improper or invalid forensic science</p></li>
<li><p>false confessions</p></li>
<li><p>and informant testimony.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The National Registry of Exonerations has also identified misconduct as a common factor in known wrongful convictions.</p>
<p>In Syed’s case, issues with the validity of the cell phone evidence and the accomplice witness testimony provided by Wilds are among those common factors.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-chamberlain-case-the-human-cost-of-wrongful-conviction-7730">Lessons from the Chamberlain case: the human cost of wrongful conviction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Based on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Dioso-Villa/publication/318960757_A_Repository_of_Wrongful_Convictions_in_Australia_First_Steps_Toward_Estimating_Prevalence_and_Causal_Contributing_Factors/links/59a930ed0f7e9b279011eac8/A-Repository-of-Wrongful-Convictions-in-Australia-First-Steps-Toward-Estimating-Prevalence-and-Causal-Contributing-Factors.pdf">known Australian wrongful conviction cases</a>, the most common factors appear to be:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>police misconduct</p></li>
<li><p>erroneous judicial instructions to the jury</p></li>
<li><p>forensic errors or misleading forensic evidence</p></li>
<li><p>incompetent defence representation</p></li>
<li><p>and false witness testimony, among others. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If Syed is indeed innocent of the murder he was convicted of, the 23 years of his life that he lost are a grave injustice. Lee’s family have also suffered tremendously and would continue to suffer with the lack of closure that comes with Syed’s wrongful conviction.</p>
<p>Any of us could be at risk of being wrongfully convicted, and the suffering that it comes with. Increasing education about what factors are common in wrongful conviction cases may hopefully mean we can make more informed decisions, should we ever hold an individual’s freedom like Adnan Syed’s in our own hands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have previously worked on a voluntary basis for Not Guilty: The Sydney Exoneration Project, a separate organisation that reviews cases of potential wrongful conviction.</span></em></p>Unfortunately, wrongful convictions do happen, and they often share similar underlying causes.Hayley Cullen, Associate lecturer, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1519762020-12-16T13:15:16Z2020-12-16T13:15:16ZK-12 schools need to take cyberattacks more seriously<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375193/original/file-20201215-13-89kuj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3840%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cyberattacks against America's K-12 schools are on the rise. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/access-denied-screen-coding-hacker-royalty-free-image/1194322768?adppopup=true">janiecbros via iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teachers in Baltimore County Public Schools knew something was wrong late in the day on Nov. 24 when they began to <a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attack-on-baltimore/">experience trouble</a> entering grades into the school district’s computer system. Around the same time, the video for a meeting of the district’s school board <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-what-to-know-schools-ransomware-attack-20201130-2j3ws6yffzcrrkfzzf3m43zxma-story.html">abruptly cut off</a>.</p>
<p>Both situations were the result of a <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-what-to-know-schools-ransomware-attack-20201130-2j3ws6yffzcrrkfzzf3m43zxma-story.html">cyberattack that had hit all of the school district’s computer networks</a>, disrupting online classes for 115,000 students.</p>
<p>The episode was by no means isolated.</p>
<p>Rather, it was just one of several in an uptick of ransomware attacks in which cybercriminals have targeted public schools throughout the United States – from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/nyregion/hartford-schools-ransomware.html">Hartford, Connecticut</a>, to <a href="https://www.newson6.com/story/5fd3c3327dc8660ba6cef127/school-districts-see-more-ransomware-attacks-during-pandemic">Huntsville, Alabama</a> – since the 2020-21 school year began.</p>
<p>Federal cybersecurity officials say the attacks – which involve things that range from the theft of sensitive student data to the disruption of online classes – are <a href="https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-345a">expected to continue</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qx3YMi4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researcher</a> who specializes in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2005.09.009">cybercrime</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137021946">cybersecurity</a>, I know that public schools represent easy and attractive targets for cybercriminals.</p>
<h2>Attacks have doubled</h2>
<p>This vulnerability is in part due to the fact that most schools <a href="https://www.kajeet.net/ransomware-a-growing-threat-in-k-12/">spend very little</a> on cybersecurity, despite the fact that they need to perform a large amount of file sharing on their networks. They also may be likely to comply with cyberextortionists’ demands because taxpayers and parents <a href="https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/ransomware-crisis-in-us-schools-more-than-1000-hit-so-far-in-2019/d/d-id/1336634">expect them to restore networks quickly</a>.</p>
<p>Cyberattacks may not be completely avoidable, but there are steps school system leaders can take to reduce the likelihood that the attacks occur or that sensitive student data is stolen and leaked onto the dark web, as was <a href="https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/10/private-information-spotted-on-dark-web-in-fallout-of-fairfax-co-schools-cyberattack/">the case in Fairfax County, Virginia</a>, in October. But first, let’s take a look at the scale and scope of the problem and how dramatically ransomware attacks increased between spring and fall of 2020, both in the United States and <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-and-fbi-warn-of-rise-in-ransomware-attacks-targeting-k-12-schools/">globally</a>.</p>
<p>From March until mid-November, cybercriminals attacked U.S. school districts educating <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-information-is-out-there-hackers-escalate-ransomware-attacks-on-schools-11605279160">over 700,000 students</a>. In the U.S., public K-12 schools represented about <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-and-fbi-warn-of-rise-in-ransomware-attacks-targeting-k-12-schools/">28%</a> of all reported ransomware incidents from January to July. That figure more than doubled, to 57%, for August and September, when K-12 schools began the fall semester.</p>
<p>In Europe from July through August, the number of weekly cyberattacks against the education sector increased by <a href="https://www.globalsecuritymag.com/Cyber-attacks-on-Global-Education,20200915,102747.html">24%, compared with 9% for all sectors</a>. During that same period, weekly cyberattacks targeting the education sector in Asia increased <a href="https://www.globalsecuritymag.com/Cyber-attacks-on-Global-Education,20200915,102747.html">by 21%, compared with 3.5% against all industries</a>.</p>
<h2>Weak security</h2>
<p>Compared with most organizations and workplaces, public schools are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/29/us/baltimore-schools-cyberattack.html">less prepared to defend themselves against cyberattacks</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, in <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-what-to-know-schools-ransomware-attack-20201130-2j3ws6yffzcrrkfzzf3m43zxma-story.html">Baltimore County</a>, a state <a href="https://www.ola.state.md.us/Search/Report?keyword=&agencyId=&dateFrom=&dateTo=">government report</a> indicated that the school system’s network lacked adequate security and had failed to properly safeguard sensitive personal information. </p>
<p>Typically, public schools have <a href="https://www.kajeet.net/ransomware-a-growing-threat-in-k-12/">small IT teams</a>. Some have <a href="https://www.fcmat.org/PublicationsReports/SantaBarbaraUSDfinalreport72.pdf">technology leaders with no formal training in technology</a>. </p>
<p>Public schools also lack proper <a href="https://www.fcmat.org/PublicationsReports/SantaBarbaraUSDfinalreport72.pdf">data backup and recovery systems and procedures</a>.</p>
<p>Given the large number of users, school networks have many vulnerable points of entry and face higher risks of malware infection and transmission. Students might also use devices with outdated software, and their home networks might be insecure. If one student’s device is attacked, that may be used as an entry point to attack the entire school network.</p>
<p>For instance, the criminals may send malicious email attachments to other users of the network using the student’s credential. Most K-12 students <a href="https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities---threats/dos-and-donts-for-school-cybersecurity-awareness/a/d-id/1338984">lack cybersecurity training</a>, which includes how to spot malicious links or infectious attachments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two girls look shocked and disappointed while they stare at a computer screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375232/original/file-20201215-21-9wnrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cybercriminals use phishing tactics to access students’ confidential information.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/worried-roommates-having-problems-buying-online-royalty-free-image/657465234?adppopup=true">AntonioGuillem via iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Extortion tactics</h2>
<p>Public schools are under pressure to ensure that students have access to online learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pressure to quickly restore networks is especially acute after the school year starts. Cybercriminals are <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/k-12-schools-warned-of-increasing-cyber-attacks-in-u-s-advisory">taking advantage of this situation</a> </p>
<p>After penetrating a school network, the perpetrators seek to <a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/02/ransomware-against-machine-learning-to-disrupt-industrial-production.html">gain privileged access and identify critical systems</a>. They then gather large numbers of account credentials, such as usernames, passwords and other items used to validate identity for authentication. They may also steal other sensitive data, try to destroy backups and disable security processes.</p>
<p>According to the antivirus company Emsisoft, after ransomware perpetrators compromise a network, they stay in the network for <a href="https://blog.emsisoft.com/en/37193/ransomware-surges-in-education-sector-in-q3-as-attackers-wait-patiently-for-start-of-school-year/">an average of 56 days</a> before they deploy ransomware.</p>
<p>Ransomware attacks against K-12 schools dramatically increased <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-and-fbi-warn-of-rise-in-ransomware-attacks-targeting-k-12-schools/">when the 2020 school year started</a>. The number of universities, colleges and school districts facing ransomware attacks increased from <a href="https://blog.emsisoft.com/en/37193/ransomware-surges-in-education-sector-in-q3-as-attackers-wait-patiently-for-start-of-school-year/">eight during the second quarter of 2020 to 31 during the third quarter</a>.</p>
<p>Sensitive personal data is also involved in such attacks. In <a href="https://blog.emsisoft.com/en/37193/ransomware-surges-in-education-sector-in-q3-as-attackers-wait-patiently-for-start-of-school-year/">nine of the 31 ransomware incidents victimizing U.S. schools in the third quarter of 2020</a>, the perpetrators had stolen personal data. The five most active ransomware groups targeting K-12 schools – Ryuk, Maze, Nefilim, AKO and Sodinokibi/REvil – <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-and-fbi-warn-of-rise-in-ransomware-attacks-targeting-k-12-schools/">run leak sites to “dump” personal data</a> if victim schools refuse to pay. </p>
<p>In September, ransomware gang Maze attacked Ohio’s Toledo Public Schools and published <a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/major-data-breach-at-ohio-school/">personal data of faculty, staff and students</a> online. Personal data posted on the dark web included students’ and employees’ <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-information-is-out-there-hackers-escalate-ransomware-attacks-on-schools-11605279160">Social Security numbers and dates of birth</a>. The criminals also disclosed information related to students’ exam grades, disciplinary action and disability status. The identities of an eighth grader whom the school had listed as emotionally disturbed and a ninth grader suspended for sexual activity were revealed. A list of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-information-is-out-there-hackers-escalate-ransomware-attacks-on-schools-11605279160">foster children was also published</a>. </p>
<h2>Children’s data are highly valuable</h2>
<p>Among the most serious concerns in ransomware attacks against schools is that leaked children’s data is likely to be sold in the dark web. Even before ransomware attacks started, children were <a href="http://www.cyblog.cylab.cmu.edu/2011/03/child-identity-theft.html">51 times more likely </a> to be targeted for identity theft than adults. </p>
<p>Some identity thieves specifically target children because the children may not find out that they were victimized until <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8364434">decades later after applying for credit</a>.</p>
<p>The unique value of children’s Social Security numbers also stems from the fact that they <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/09/ftc-testifies-childrens-identity-theft">lack a credit history</a> and can be combined with any name and birth date.</p>
<h2>What can schools do?</h2>
<p>School leaders should develop clear guidelines and policies to strengthen cybersecurity. Regular updates about <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2117843/what-is-phishing-how-this-cyber-attack-works-and-how-to-prevent-it.html">phishing</a> and other threats, as well as strategies and instructions to mitigate and manage such threats, must be provided to students and staff.</p>
<p>Schools can also use free services to enhance cyberdefense. Of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/sunday/school-districts-funding-inequality-covid.html">13,000 school districts</a> in the U.S., <a href="https://www.edweek.org/technology/schools-arent-doing-enough-to-protect-their-networks-top-cybersecurity-official-warns/2020/12">only 2,000</a> are taking advantage of free membership in the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center. The center offers network vulnerability assessments, cyberthreat alerts and other services, such as <a href="https://www.cisecurity.org/blog/malicious-domain-blocking-and-reporting-mdbr-newest-service-for-u-s-sltts/">Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting</a>, which prevents computer systems from connecting to malicious websites. Only <a href="https://www.edweek.org/technology/schools-arent-doing-enough-to-protect-their-networks-top-cybersecurity-official-warns/2020/12">about 120 schools use the blocking service</a>.</p>
<p>Many school districts rely on outdated <a href="https://threatpost.com/healthcare-in-crisis-diagnosing-cybersecurity-shortcomings-in-unprecedented-times/161917/">equipment</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-irs-was-just-hacked-again-and-what-the-feds-can-do-about-it-54524">software</a>, which are easy to hack. It is important to patch operating systems and software when manufacturers release new updates. It also helps to constantly back up important data. By frequently backing up data and keeping it secure, schools can ensure the access to networks without disruption.</p>
<p>Schools may also want to purchase <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-digital-threats-grow-will-cyber-insurance-take-off-104371">cyberinsurance to defend against ransomware and other cyberthreats</a>. Insurance not only helps pay ransom, but it also helps to defend against attacks, because schools need to strengthen their security to get a lower premium. When online education company K12 Inc., which creates online learning curricula for over 1 million students, faced ransomware attacks in November, the company worked with its <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/">cyberinsurer to make the ransom payment</a>. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nir Kshetri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>America’s public schools often lack the adequate security to protect their students’ most sensitive data from being linked on the web.Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – GreensboroLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1292202020-10-09T14:01:25Z2020-10-09T14:01:25ZRepatriating the archives: Lumbee scholars find their people and bring them home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360914/original/file-20200930-16-16d0sx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5642%2C3741&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jeanette W. Jones holds the September 1957 issue of Ebony magazine, which features the article 'Mystery People of Baltimore: Neither red, nor black, nor white. Strange ‘Indian’ tribe lives in world of its own.' She is pictured at center, with her hand on her hip.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Sean Scheidt; author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following World War II, thousands of <a href="https://www.lumbeetribe.com/">Lumbee Indians</a> migrated from their tribal homeland in rural North Carolina to industrialized cities, including Baltimore and Philadelphia. </p>
<p>Seeking work and a better quality of life, they formed distinct Lumbee communities. They brought their foods – cornbread, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XaFoC1QI9s&t=89s">collards</a>, <a href="https://digitaledition.baltimoresun.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=a5b2f4ef-ed9b-401a-8e7e-3db23dabf45d">pastry</a>. They brought their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUXktqduQI">singing</a> and strong work ethic. They became business owners. They founded churches and urban Indian Centers.</p>
<p>Their lives and contributions became part of the historical record and cultural landscapes of these places, but over time, a complex set of factors have resulted in the movement and displacement of the people themselves. </p>
<p>We are Lumbee scholars <a href="https://amst.umbc.edu/faculty-and-staff/ashley-minner/">Ashley Minner</a> from Baltimore and <a href="https://sites.temple.edu/jessicamarkey/">Jessica Locklear</a> from Philadelphia. We have mined local archives in search of our forebears. We’ve found news articles, photographs, maps and even video footage documenting relatives and friends who often have no idea they are represented in collections. </p>
<p>As safeguarders of history, institutional archives necessarily have rules in place to govern access to their collections. Many of the materials are also subject to copyright, and the rights are owned by the creators of the materials or their employers. In other words, a photographer or the company the photographer was working for would own the rights to a specific photograph.</p>
<p>Faced with restrictions as to how the memories we found can be accessed and shared, we ask: Who has the right to the archives? What are our obligations both as tribal citizens and public-facing researchers when we find “our people” in them?</p>
<h2>Ashley Minner, Baltimore</h2>
<p>When Lumbee Indians moved to Baltimore, they settled in an area on the east side of town bridging the neighborhoods of Washington Hill and Upper Fells Point. The blocks of brick row houses with marble steps looked nothing like the rural home they left behind, but as other ethnic communities had done before them, they made this place their own. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-quest-to-reconstruct-baltimores-american-indian-reservation-110562">In 2018, I hit the archives in earnest</a>, anxious to corroborate stories shared by my elders about “<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1Qn0-0XpRKaE4VMGkVBxHB-5FGe8EHa8l">the reservation</a>” they had formed there in their youth. </p>
<p>They described a landscape intimately familiar to me, where places I grew up – the <a href="http://baltimoreamericanindiancenter.org/">Baltimore American Indian Center</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/southbroadwaybaptist/?rf=100886793289766">South Broadway Baptist Church</a> – are still open and operating. But their stories were filled with names of businesses and people I didn’t know because this area has been continually transformed since then. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359214/original/file-20200922-20-1yxy9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View of South Broadway from the Baltimore American Indian Center.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Colby Ware for OSI Baltimore, 2014</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the first and richest sources of documentation I found was the <a href="https://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/students-at-work-the-baltimore-news-american-photo-archives/">Baltimore News American newspaper photo archive</a>. There were forgotten images of community leaders, legends and even relatives. </p>
<p>My immediate impulse was to share the photos via social media so our people could enjoy them as well. To share them legally, I needed permission from the Hearst Corporation, which owns the copyright, which I eventually got, months later.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I ran into Hannah Locklear, another Lumbee woman from Baltimore. She cried happy tears when I showed her one of the archival images I had saved on my phone. There was her great-grandma, Margie Chavis, young, standing on the stoop of the Baltimore American Indian Center. Along with our memories, images from archives like these are sometimes all that remain.</p>
<p>A fellow researcher alerted me to a September 1957 <a href="https://www.ebony.com/">Ebony</a> magazine article – “Mystery People of Baltimore: Neither red, nor black, nor white. Strange ‘Indian’ tribe lives in world of its own.” </p>
<p>A grainy print copy is available at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. I noticed right away that one of the featured photos – taken at a youth social dance and captioned “Typical Indian girl” – was my Aunt Jeanette. Just 14 years old, she was neither interviewed nor told how her photo would be used. </p>
<p>With great celebration, the Ebony and Jet Magazine photo archives were recently donated to the <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/">National Museum of African American History and Culture</a> and the <a href="https://www.getty.edu/research/">Getty Research Institute</a> so they would be “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/ebony-photographs-sale.html">widely accessible to researchers, scholars and the public</a>.” But those archives aren’t publicly available yet.</p>
<p>Incredibly, a copy of the magazine itself was listed in the collections of <a href="https://www.lyndaspropshop.com/">a London prop shop</a>. I bought it and brought it home to Aunt Jeanette.</p>
<p>She carefully opened the yellowed, oversized magazine and delightedly found a teenage version of herself inside, along with photos of other Lumbee young people, new on the Baltimore scene, playing at youth centers, sitting on stoops, lounging in Patterson Park. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359219/original/file-20200922-14-ojiwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Mystery People of Baltimore’ spread, Ebony, 1957.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Sean Scheidt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the hurtful context of the article, Ebony managed to capture a special time for our community. These are some of the only images we have of “the reservation” in its heyday. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, they are available only to those who can wait an indeterminate period of time until they’re made publicly available, and then navigate the bureaucracy of the institution where they’re housed.</p>
<h2>Jessica Locklear, Philadelphia</h2>
<p>Unlike Baltimore, there was no “reservation” in Philadelphia. Here, Lumbees settled in pockets across the city, yet found ways to forge a sense of community. When I started my research, I doubted there would be evidence of Philadelphia’s Lumbee community in any archives. I was wrong. </p>
<p>While searching the archives of the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com">Philadelphia Inquirer</a> newspaper, I found a story about a Lumbee man named Thessely Campbell who was set to star in a 1984 PBS documentary. Campbell moved from Fairmont, North Carolina, to Philadelphia in 1952 and found employment as a welder at the <a href="https://hiddencityphila.org/2018/08/budd-company-an-industrial-icon-that-broke-the-mold/">Budd Company</a>. </p>
<p>Obtaining a copy of this documentary was a lengthy process. The closest available copy was at a university library over 320 miles away. “The Work I’ve Done” focuses on Campbell’s retirement, but also documents Philadelphia’s Lumbee community, including footage shot inside the <a href="https://sites.temple.edu/lumbeesofphiladelphia/2019/05/15/a-lumbee-church-on-frankford-ave-establishing-kinship-and-maintaining-identity/">Native American Freewill Baptist Church</a>, where Campbell was a minister. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338745/original/file-20200601-78880-1u5ncf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot showing the Native American Freewill Baptist Church, where Campbell was a minister. ‘The Work I’ve Done.’ Blue Ridge Mountain Films, Directed by Kenneth Fink, 1984.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2019, I conducted an <a href="https://sites.temple.edu/lumbeesofphiladelphia/oral-history-collection/">oral history interview</a> with Campbell’s wife, Helen. She wanted a DVD copy of the film to keep and share with family. It was at this moment I asked: What is my obligation to pass along material that is available to me, as a scholar, to those who may not be able to access it otherwise? </p>
<p>I felt strongly a copy of this film belonged in the hands of the family represented in it. Asserting a claim of fair use, I made Ms. Helen a copy, and I’m glad I did – she passed away a few months later. </p>
<p>More recently, I stumbled upon a <a href="https://archive.org/details/theworkivedone/theworkivedonereel1.mov">digital copy of the documentary</a> made available by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit dedicated to universal access of archival materials. However, “accessible” does not always mean findable.</p>
<p>In sifting through various archival records, I occasionally find photos of familiar faces, which I try to share with those individuals or families. Most people are tickled to find they are in the archives, and most enjoy being able to view and share images they would not have found themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358928/original/file-20200921-22-8i7liz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rev. Thessely Campbell and Helen Campbell. Photo courtesy of Maria Luisa Rios.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Accountability in two directions</h2>
<p><a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469646374/the-lumbee-indians/">The renowned Lumbee scholar Malinda Maynor Lowery writes</a> of being “bound by two sets of ethics that overlap heavily: A Lumbee’s obligation demands accountability to the people who have lived history, and a historian’s responsibility demands accountability to the widest possible sources.” </p>
<p>As tribal citizens and scholars doing public-facing work, we consider ourselves similarly bound. We search for “our people” far and wide. When we find them in archives, we feel obligated to bring them home to their families. </p>
<p>Knowing our people will not access archives as we do, through libraries, universities and museum collections, we meet them where they are – in their homes, out in the world, and on social media. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Repatriating the archives isn’t always about removing materials from institutional care. It’s making sure the people whose lives and cultures are represented in collections know they are there, and ensuring they have the ability to view and share these materials as they see fit. When materials are returned to their communities of origin, they become <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/748604202/historic-recordings-revitalize-language-for-passamaquoddy-tribal-members">reactivated</a>. </p>
<p>If we have the ability to give a woman – or a whole community – the opportunity to disarm a hurtful encounter of their youth, and to allow public affirmation of their beauty and true history, we will. If we can return a walking, talking, preaching, singing father, husband and minister to his people, we will. </p>
<p>We are dedicated to sharing the rich histories of former Lumbee neighborhoods with present generations. Bringing archival materials directly to our people presents opportunities to interact with our shared past – and that informs our future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129220/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley Minner has received funding for her research from the University of Maryland College Park, the Dresher Center for the Humanities at UMBC, the American Folklore Society, and Alternate ROOTS. Ashley is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Locklear works as a Field Scholar for the Southern Oral History Program (SOHP). Jessica is a recent graduate from Temple University's Center for Public History. She received funding for her research from the Leeway Foundation and Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region (OHMAR). Jessica is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. </span></em></p>Two Lumbee scholars who have mined local archives in search of tribal history raise the profound question: Who has the rights to memories and artifacts of their people’s past?Ashley Minner, Professor of the Practice, Department of American Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyJessica R. Locklear, Ph.D. Student in History, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1292132020-03-25T12:27:44Z2020-03-25T12:27:44ZDeal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321108/original/file-20200317-60915-zw675f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C88%2C7326%2C4814&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">it's never good to find your data locked up.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sadness-company-agent-woman-finding-working-659365795">PR Image Factory/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When faced with a <a href="https://www.us-cert.gov/Ransomware">ransomware</a> attack, a person or company or government agency finds its digital data encrypted by an unknown person, and then gets a demand for a ransom. </p>
<p>As that type of digital hijacking has become <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/the-ransomware-epidemic-explained/">more common in recent years</a>, there have been two major <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/congress-still-doesnt-have-an-answer-for-ransomware/">ways people have chosen to respond</a>: pay the ransom, which can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or hire computer security consultants to recover the data independently.</p>
<p>Those approaches are missing another option that we have identified in <a href="https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/profile.cshtml?id=SJSHACKE">our</a> cybersecurity policy <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YtgRGx0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">studies</a>. Police have a long history of <a href="https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/crisis-or-hostage-negotiation-the-distinction-between-two-important-terms">successful crisis and hostage negotiation</a> – experience that offers lessons that could be useful for people and organizations facing ransomware attacks.</p>
<h2>Understanding the problem</h2>
<p>In the first nine months of 2019, more than 600 U.S. government agencies – including entire municipal governments – <a href="https://statescoop.com/report-70-percent-of-ransomware-attacks-in-2019-hit-state-and-local-governments/">suffered</a> ransomware attacks. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards was forced to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/louisiana-declares-state-of-emergency-after-cybersecurity-attack-2019-11">declare</a> a state of emergency following ransomware attacks on state government servers that caused widespread network outages at <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/11/hackers-paradise-louisianas-ransomware-disaster-far-from-over/">many state agencies</a>, including the Office of Motor Vehicles and the departments of Public Health and Public Safety.</p>
<p>Many of those victims chose to pay the ransom demanded by whoever hijacked their data. Lake City, Florida, for instance, <a href="https://www.hipaajournal.com/fbi-new-ransomware-guidance-extent-us-ransomware-epidemic-revealed/">paid US$460,000</a> to unlock its data. </p>
<p>Other targets, like the city of Baltimore, chose to fight back instead of paying the ransom. Rather than handing the attackers the $76,000 they demanded, Baltimore paid more than $10 million to purchase new equipment and absorbed more than $8 million in <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-ransomware-email-20190529-story.html">lost revenue</a> from taxes and fees that went unpaid while systems were down. </p>
<p>Those moves were in line with <a href="https://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/05/09/fbi-ransomware-extortionists/">FBI advice</a> saying that paying the ransom could increase the likelihood of additional attacks, both on previous targets and new ones.</p>
<p>More recently, the FBI has <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/media/2019/191002.aspx">softened its stance</a> to open the door to the paying of ransom in certain cases, but to always <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/03/fbi_softens_stance_on_ransomware/">report doing so</a> to law enforcement. Although the agency still underscores that paying a ransom does not guarantee that the encrypted files will be recovered, or that the victim will not be targeted again, it does recognize that “<a href="https://www.ic3.gov/media/2019/191002.aspx">all options</a>” should be considered in these cases.</p>
<h2>Preventing ransomware</h2>
<p>The best protection against ransomware is <a href="https://edscoop.com/indiana-u-cybersecurity-clinic-local-organizations/">prevention</a>. </p>
<p>Learn, and teach your coworkers and employees, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cybercrime-120062">how best to protect yourselves</a>, both personally and professionally, from hackers. Keep software up-to-date with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-petya-ransomware-attack-shows-how-many-people-still-dont-install-software-updates-77667">latest security upgrades</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, ensure your <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/3331981/how-to-protect-backups-from-ransomware.html">data is backed up regularly</a>. That way, if a ransomware attack happens, the victims can get professional help removing the malware from their systems, restore their data and move on. </p>
<p>Many companies have purchased <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-digital-threats-grow-will-cyber-insurance-take-off-104371">insurance coverage</a> to help pay the costs of recovering from ransomware – but some of those policies also <a href="https://www.hipaajournal.com/insurance-companies-are-fueling-the-ransomware-epidemic-by-paying-ransoms/">include paying ransoms</a> in the event of an attack.</p>
<p>Getting the data back isn’t a sure thing. Of the organizations that have paid the ransom, <a href="https://features.propublica.org/ransomware/ransomware-attack-data-recovery-firms-paying-hackers/">20% haven’t actually recovered</a> their data.</p>
<p>That presents victims with the certainty of spending some amount of money – whether it’s a ransom payment or a bill for a cybersecurity specialist – and not necessarily getting their data back. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321133/original/file-20200317-60910-14l6yta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t rush to hand over the cash a ransomware attacker demands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/case-full-dollar-33091483">Andrey Burmakin/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An opportunity to engage</h2>
<p>We have found another approach that could reduce the amount of money spent and simultaneously increase the certainty of data recovery.</p>
<p>Negotiating with hostage takers is tricky business, both online and offline. But many cybercriminals are often willing to bargain over the price of a ransomware payout. In fact, nearly three out of four ransomware hackers would <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1353-4858(16)30096-4">return stolen data for a discounted price</a>. </p>
<p>With cybercrime overall – of which ransomware is a large and growing component – slated to cost the global economy <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-rod-j-rosenstein-delivers-remarks-cambridge-cyber-summit">$6 trillion a year</a> by 2021, the opportunity to lower costs could be very valuable. For people or organizations without insurance coverage, there is little to lose by trying.</p>
<p>When a ransomware attack begins, affected computers’ screens normally announce the attack, include a demand for payment, and show a countdown clock, after which, allegedly, the hijacked data will become irretrievable.</p>
<p>That time is a window of opportunity to negotiate with the attackers. Usually, ransomware attackers require their victims to buy <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/what-is-bitcoin/">bitcoin</a>, a form of <a href="https://theconversation.com/cryptocurrencies-blockchains-and-their-dark-side-4-essential-reads-103567">digital currency</a>, in order to pay the ransom. Most people don’t know how to buy bitcoin in the first place, so often an attacker has to teach the victim what to do. This opens a channel of communication between the victim and the attacker, which is analogous to the starting point police experts use to defuse hostage situations.</p>
<h2>Negotiating with cybercriminals</h2>
<p>In general, the less the victim knows about how to purchase bitcoin, the more time the victim has to build up rapport and trust with the cybercriminal. During a negotiation, an attacker may <a href="https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/4-step-response-plan-bitcoin-ransomware-attacks">extend payment deadlines</a>, lower the ransom, decrypt some data as a show of “good faith” or provide step-by-step assistance in purchasing bitcoin.</p>
<p>These steps may be understood as offers to gain the hostage’s trust and may reveal the hacker’s willingness to be flexible. A victim can request some data be restored, in part to prove that the hacker actually controls the files. </p>
<p>If the attacker doesn’t provide any decrypted data, it may be a sign that the ransomware is one that <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/ransomware-wiper-malware-attacks-have-more-than-doubled-ibm-team-says/">just erases data</a>, rather than holding it hostage. That type of attack cannot be reversed, even if a ransom is paid. </p>
<p>If that’s the case, then it may be smart to terminate negotiation and not consider paying the ransom, either.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321114/original/file-20200317-60901-15njg82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2018, U.S. federal prosecutors charged a North Korean agent with computer crimes, including a ransomware attack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/first-assistant-u-s-attorney-tracy-wilkison-announces-news-photo/1027773930?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A risky business</h2>
<p>No strategy for dealing with a ransomware attack is without risk. </p>
<p>Paying the ransom <a href="https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/ransomware/ransomware-to-pay-or-not-to-pay/">appears to increase the chances</a> of being targeted again in the future, according to one 2018 report. In a future attack, the attackers will be less likely to believe that you don’t know how to buy or send bitcoin.</p>
<p>Paying the ransom also lets the criminals, and at times rogue nations like <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/19/571854614/u-s-says-north-korea-directly-responsible-for-wannacry-ransomware-attack">North Korea</a> who also mount ransomware attacks, earn significant amounts with minimal risk, possibly increasing the likelihood of others being targeted as well.</p>
<p>Declaring that you won’t pay the ransom has its own dangers, as Baltimore saw, paying millions in fees to recover data and rebuild systems. That data could, at least potentially, have been reclaimed for just thousands of dollars. </p>
<p>In a similar situation, the city of Atlanta was hit by “<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/atlanta-ransomware-attack-hit-mission-critical-systems/">GoldenEye</a>” ransomware, with cyberextortionists demanding $51,000 in bitcoin. Atlanta, like Baltimore, refused to pay. The city ended up spending <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-atlanta-budget/atlanta-officials-reveal-worsening-effects-of-cyber-attack-idUSKCN1J231M">more than $9.5 million</a> in taxpayer dollars for recovery. </p>
<p>These events make clear the moral and ethical dilemma around fueling crime and efficiently using public resources, a quandary that can be lessened, if not relieved entirely, by negotiating.</p>
<p>More organizations are trying this new approach, seeking to lower ransom payments and recover data less expensively. For example, the municipal government of Mekinac, Quebec, Canada, managed to <a href="https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/news/cyber/quebec-municipality-hit-with-major-cyberattack-117002.aspx">lower its ransomware payment by 55%</a> through negotiations. In our view, it’s worth a try – and while certainly not risk-free, it could help.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford is a principal investigator on grants from the Hewlett Foundation, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the Microsoft Corporation supporting both the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance and the Indiana University Cybersecurity Clinic.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Wade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Police experience in crisis and hostage negotiation could come in handy when dealing with cybercriminals who have, effectively, kidnapped data.Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana UniversityMegan Wade, Master of Public Affairs Candidate in Information Systems, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1200602019-08-04T21:47:05Z2019-08-04T21:47:05ZCould a national buyback program reduce gun violence in America?<p>Americans own nearly half of the <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf">world’s guns</a>, with approximately 120 firearms for every 100 U.S. residents. </p>
<p>Gun control policies may someday restrict new gun sales. But what impact can they have when Americans already own millions of guns?</p>
<p><a href="https://reason.com/2019/06/27/on-gun-control-democratic-presidential-candidates-offer-nothing-but-empty-promises/">Some have pointed to gun buybacks</a> as a potential solution to this problem. </p>
<p>I have spent years studying American attitudes toward guns and gun policies, including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516300353">smart guns</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13669877.2017.1422781">open carry</a>. I know that gun owners <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">feel strongly</a> about their identities as gun owners, making it difficult to create a strategy for taking guns off the streets.</p>
<h2>US gun stock</h2>
<p>The sheer number of guns is part of the challenge. The United States has the largest <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf">civilian-owned stock of guns</a> in the world. At the end of 2017, the Small Arms Survey reported that there were an estimated 393 million firearms in the United States – and that’s not even counting guns owned by the police and military. That represents <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf">45.8%</a> of the world’s civilian-owned guns. </p>
<p>Yemen has the second-highest rate of gun ownership per person in the world, with just 52.8 firearms per 100 residents.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">More than 40%</a> of U.S. adults live in a household with at least one gun. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/19/us-gun-ownership-survey">About half</a> of all civilian-owned guns in the U.S. are owned by just 3% of U.S. adults. These gun owners have an average of 17 guns each. Most other gun owners average about three guns at home.</p>
<h2>Reducing numbers</h2>
<p>Gun buyback programs are designed to reduce the number of firearms by purchasing guns from private owners, and typically destroying them. </p>
<p>Gun buyback programs are not new. </p>
<p>Following a mass shooting in 1996, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9212725/australia-buyback">Australia banned automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns</a> and instituted a national gun buyback program. </p>
<p>In a year, Australia purchased about 650,000 firearms from private residents, <a href="http://faculty.publicpolicy.umd.edu/sites/default/files/reuter/files/gun%20chapter.pdf">estimated</a> to represent about 20% of the country’s privately owned guns. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9212725/australia-buyback">Research</a> evaluating the effects of the buyback found a 42% decrease in homicide rates and a 57% decrease in suicide rates in the seven years after the legislation passed. But <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1540791">some researchers</a> are still uncertain whether this decrease was due to the buyback, or whether it was simply part of an existing downward trend. </p>
<p>U.S. cities have experimented with buybacks on a much smaller scale, even though the <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/">Pew Research Center</a> reports that more than 70% of gun owners say they could never imagine themselves not owning some sort of firearm.</p>
<p>One of the earliest examples occurred in <a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19741208&id=INFOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6867,3250859">Baltimore</a>, Maryland. In 1974, Baltimore police paid residents US$50 per firearm, collecting roughly 13,500 over a two-month period. Rather than reduce crime, homicides and assaults spiked during the buyback. It is unclear why, but two months is a short time period for a clear pattern to emerge and crime rates in cities across the country were increasing through much of the 1970s.</p>
<p>Baltimore is not unique. A 2008 review of the existing research by Matthew Makarios and Travis Pratt in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128708321321">Crime & Delinquency</a> found that gun buyback programs have generally been ineffective in reducing crime in the U.S. Challenges include the types of guns purchased, the involvement of law enforcement, and the costs involved.</p>
<h2>Types of guns purchased</h2>
<p>Gun buyback programs often place no restrictions on the types of guns that can be purchased. Civilians frequently bring in old firearms, guns in disrepair, rifles, or shotguns. <a href="https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/4/3/206.short">Sacramento</a>, California, implemented a gun buyback program in 1993. Nearly a quarter of all guns submitted were not in working order.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(13)00452-2/pdf">Boston</a> Police Department also attempted a gun buyback program in 1993 without a restriction for weapon type. Only about half of submitted firearms were handguns. That’s significant because we know from existing <a href="https://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/gun-violence/pages/welcome.aspx#note3">crime data</a> that although <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/mass-shootings.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">some mass shooters use more powerful weapons</a>, handguns are the type of firearm most often used in violent crime and in youth violence. If the goal is to reduce crime, getting shotguns or broken firearms off the street will likely have little effect. </p>
<p>Guns obtained through a 1994 to 1996 buyback in <a href="https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/8/2/143.short">Milwaukee</a> also differed from those typically used in suicide and homicide.</p>
<p>The Boston Police Department tried again in 2006. Learning from their past mistakes, the police offered a <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(13)00452-2/pdf">$200 gift card for each handgun</a> – but no cash or gift card for rifles or shotguns. At the conclusion of the program, the Boston Police Department reported that more than 85% of submitted firearms were handguns, closely matching the types of guns used in crime.</p>
<p>The number of shootings <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(13)00452-2/pdf">decreased</a> by 14% in Boston in the year after the buyback and continued to decrease through 2010.</p>
<p>Other jurisdictions followed Boston’s example. In 2015, 13 police departments in <a href="https://cdn.journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abstract/2017/08000/Are__goods_for_guns__good_for_the_community__An.12.aspx">Massachusetts</a> instituted a buyback program with higher amounts paid for types of firearms more frequently used in crime. As a result, they were able to collect more handguns. But three out of five people who sold their guns said they still had one or more guns at home.</p>
<h2>Cost and profit</h2>
<p>Experience shows that some people will attempt to profit from gun buybacks by submitting inexpensive or broken firearms worth less than the cash incentive offered through the buyback. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsKcairns/status/1074759034513838081">Baltimore</a>, one buyback participant claimed she was going to use the buyback money to purchase a larger weapon. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/firearms-enthusiasts-crash-gun-buyback-to-hunt-bargains">Oregon</a>, private citizens waited outside the gun buyback locations to purchase firearms and ammunition from owners before they could go inside to submit them to law enforcement.</p>
<p>Gun buybacks are financed by taxpayer dollars and are generally <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/2015/07/gun-buyback-study-effectivness/">paid for</a> by local agencies rather than through state or federal funding. A local jurisdiction’s budget will limit the amount of firearms it can purchase and destroy, reducing the likelihood that a gun buyback will have an observable impact on local crime rates.</p>
<h2>Law enforcement involvement</h2>
<p>Typically, gun buyback programs are run by law enforcement. Understandably, criminal offenders may be hesitant to come to the local police station or interact with law enforcement – even if they are promised exemption from prosecution for weapon possession. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(13)00452-2/pdf">Boston</a> attempted to address this concern in 2006 by designating sites like churches as drop-off locations. <a href="https://abc7news.com/news/buyback-event-saturday-for-residents-to-turn-in-firearms-for-cash/434806/">Other jurisdictions</a> have held gun buybacks run by nonprofit groups, but law enforcement officials are frequently on-hand as security, or to help take the guns to be destroyed after the buyback.</p>
<h2>No sizeable US impact</h2>
<p>So far, gun buybacks in the United States have been a community-based, grassroots endeavor with limited impact. Their feasibility on a state or nationwide scale is unclear. </p>
<p>Cost alone may be a prohibiting factor. Assuming a $50 per firearm incentive, reducing the <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf">U.S. gun stock</a> by 1% would cost $196.5 million. Inevitably, only some of the guns purchased would have been used in future crimes.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lacey Wallace does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More than 40 percent of U.S. adults have a gun in their household, making it hard to get guns off the streets – even if new gun restrictions are passed.Lacey Wallace, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1212342019-08-02T12:22:30Z2019-08-02T12:22:30ZThere’s a dark political history to language that strips people of their dignity<p>Dehumanizing language often precedes genocide.</p>
<p>One tragic example: Extreme dehumanizing language was a strong contributor to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0261927X11425033">As I have written</a>, the Hutu majority used a popular radio station to continually refer to Tutsi tribal members, a minority in Rwanda, as “cockroaches.” </p>
<p>As support for this characterization grew among Hutus, it essentially stripped away any moral obligation to see Tutsis as fellow humans. They were just <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/rwanda-shows-how-hateful-speech-leads-violence/587041/">vermin that needed to be eradicated</a>. </p>
<p>Students of 20th century history will also recognize this pattern of dehumanizing language in the lead-up to the <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/sites/default/files/Armenian_Genocide_full.pdf">genocide committed by the Turks against Armenians</a>, where Armenians were “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/armenia/11559779/Armenian-massacres-What-happened-during-the-genocide-and-why-does-Turkey-deny-it.html">dangerous microbes</a>.” During the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134956180/criminals-see-their-victims-as-less-than-human">the Holocaust</a>, Germans described Jews as “Untermenschen,” or subhumans.</p>
<p>On July 27, President Trump tweeted that Baltimore was a “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-rep-cummingss-district-calling-it-a-disgusting-rat-and-rodent-infested-mess/2019/07/27/b93c89b2-b073-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html?utm_term=.6407427d4871">"disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess”</a> and “No human being would want to live there.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0728-trump-baltimore-20190727-k6ac4yvnpvcczlaexdfglifada-story.html">Baltimore Sun charged back with an editorial</a> headlined “Better to have a few rats than to be one.” </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tRawgvcAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of conflict management</a>. This back-and-forth got me reflecting on how extreme, dehumanizing exchanges like this can escalate into destructive outcomes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286536/original/file-20190801-169702-k0kv26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Donald Trump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump/3550b1e040f34a71a7f7b417094b2ab9/66/0">AP/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Insults and conflict</h2>
<p>The goal of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mZyl34QAAAAJ&hl=en">my research in hostage negotiation and divorce mediation</a> is to help police negotiators and court mediators shift out of a charged situation into problem solving. </p>
<p>Generally, when people respect one another they have a fairly easy time problem solving. But when one person challenges the other’s identity with personal insults, both parties forget about the problem-solving task and focus only on what I call “identity restoration,” which means trying to save face and restore personal dignity. </p>
<p>This shift pushes them into a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-97742-000">charged conflict that can quickly escalate</a>. </p>
<p>After all, many studies over the last several decades have reinforced the finding that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0162-895X.00230">a human being’s group identity is their most prized possession</a>. People craft their identities to fit into a core group – as a member of a family, a profession or a tribe, for example – that is vital to our social standing. In some cases, such as adopting the identity of a U.S. Marine, for example, group belonging may be necessary to personal survival. </p>
<p>Most of the time identity challenges are fairly minor and easily ignored so that problem solving doesn’t get off track too quickly. A boss might say at a meeting, “Weren’t you supposed to have that report ready today?” A quick defense of one’s identity as a competent professional for that company and the matter is dropped and we’re back to work. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286535/original/file-20190801-169684-1nrl2c8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Baltimore Sun published an editorial in response to President Trump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0728-trump-baltimore-20190727-k6ac4yvnpvcczlaexdfglifada-story.html">Screenshot, Baltimore Sun</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Conflict and Escalation</h2>
<p>When the challenges are more severe, the identity defense becomes fiercer. Voices get raised, emotions swell and people become locked in a spiraling conflict, which is characterized by a sustained attack-and-defend cycle. </p>
<p>Hostage negotiators and divorce mediators are trained to shift dialogue away from identity threats and into problem solving by isolating divisive issues and coming up with specific proposals to address them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, if there are no controls over language escalation, and parties start making references that can be interpreted in extreme, dehumanizing terms, they may come to believe that the only way to restore their identities is by physical domination. </p>
<p>Words no longer work. When parties cross over this very thin line, they fall into an identity trap with little hope of escape until the violence ends. </p>
<p>While I don’t expect the conflict between the president and Baltimore to escalate into actual violence, these kinds of exchanges can make it more acceptable for followers to use this kind of language. </p>
<p>When the President encourages crowds to chant, “Lock her up,” and “Send her back” at rallies, or describes a city as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being” would want to live, it sets a climate in which using lethal, dehumanizing language seems normal. That is simply dangerous. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William A. Donohue does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Extreme, dehumanizing language like the words used by President Trump to describe Baltimore can escalate into destructive outcomes, writes a scholar of hostage negotiation.William A. Donohue, Distinguished Professor of Communication, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1193712019-07-11T11:07:18Z2019-07-11T11:07:18ZWhy states and cities should stop handing out billions in economic incentives to companies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283613/original/file-20190711-44432-6x56ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some states and cities are getting very little for the taxpayer dollars they hand out to companies. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Atstock Productions/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>U.S. states and cities <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1228&context=reports">hand out tens of billions</a> in taxpayer dollars every year to companies as economic incentives. </p>
<p>These businesses are <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0209/7122/files/Bauerle_Danzman_et_al_2016_White_Paper_Incentives.pdf?9785265759434988670">supposed to use the money</a>, typically distributed through economic development programs, to open new facilities, create jobs and generate tax revenue.</p>
<p>But all too often that’s not what happens, as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TunpR_MAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I’ve learned</a> after doing research on the use of tax incentives to spur economic development in cities and states across the country, particularly in Texas. </p>
<p>Recent scandals involving economic development programs in <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/comptroller/news/docs/eda_final_report.pdf">New Jersey</a>, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-one-trump-tax-cut-meant-to-help-the-poor-a-billionaire-ended-up-winning-big">Baltimore</a> and elsewhere illustrate just what’s wrong with these programs – and why I believe it’s time to end this waste of taxpayer dollars once and for all. </p>
<h2>Economic development 101</h2>
<p>Many states, counties and cities have economic development agencies <a href="https://icma.org/sites/default/files/306723_Economic%20Development%202014%20Survey%20Results%20for%20website.pdf">tasked</a> with facilitating investment in their communities. </p>
<p>These agencies undertake a variety of valuable <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/83141/2000880-What-Do-State-Economic-Development-Agencies-Do.pdf">activities</a>, from gathering data to training small businesses owners. Yet one of their most high-profile activities is the use of tax and other incentives to entice companies to invest in their communities, <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0209/7122/files/Bauerle_Danzman_et_al_2016_White_Paper_Incentives.pdf?9785265759434988670">generating local jobs and expanding the tax base</a>.</p>
<p>Estimates of how much is spent on such incentives range from <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1228&context=reports">US$45 billion</a> to <a href="http://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/01/us/government-incentives.html">$80 billion</a> a year. </p>
<p>But what do taxpayers get for all this money? As it turns out, not much. </p>
<h2>1. A waste of money</h2>
<p>First off, in most cases, investments that result from these incentives would have happened anyway. </p>
<p>That was the case in Baltimore involving a federal program meant to spur development in distressed communities it dubbed “<a href="https://eig.org/opportunityzones">opportunity zones</a>.” <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-one-trump-tax-cut-meant-to-help-the-poor-a-billionaire-ended-up-winning-big">ProPublica reported in June</a> that Maryland accidentally designated an area of Baltimore that wasn’t poor and was already under redevelopment an opportunity zone. Despite catching the error, the state kept the designation, allowing real estate investors to potentially claim millions of dollars in tax breaks. Those investors include <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/7406856">Kevin Plank</a>, the billionaire CEO of Under Armour, who owns about 40% of the zone, according to ProPublica.</p>
<p>This example isn’t unique. Last year, Tim Bartik, an economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.17848/wp18-289">reviewed 30 studies</a> on the use of economic development incentives. He found that 75% to 98% of companies were planning to make the desired investment anyway. </p>
<p>In my own work in Texas, <a href="https://rdcu.be/bJE6i">I found</a> that more than 85% of the companies offered tax breaks had already planned to open the promised new facilities. A few even broke ground before applying for the incentives. </p>
<p>And in New Jersey, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6157686-New-Jersey-Task-Force-on-EDA-s-Tax-Incentives.html">investigators</a> who uncovered abuse in the state’s economic development program found that a lawyer representing a powerful Democratic official <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/nyregion/nj-tax-break-kevin-sheehan.html">drafted legislation</a> to benefit companies tied to him and his associates, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Their <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/comptroller/news/docs/eda_final_report.pdf">June report</a> described how the New Jersey Economic Development Agency didn’t perform the basic due diligence of a single Google search, which would have shown that some of the companies had already announced a move to New Jersey before being offered incentives.</p>
<h2>2. Investments rarely pay off</h2>
<p>Even when an incentive does draw new investments, they <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/up_technicalreports/34/">rarely pay off</a>. And they can even <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3376991">harm the fiscal health</a> of cities and states by pulling resources away from other more productive activities.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/incentives-to-pander/E0003C20215EDA5047EA0831FEEB6D92">Incentives to Pander</a>,” a book I co-authored with Duke political scientist Edmund Malesky, we reviewed the academic literature in the U.S. and elsewhere on the use of incentives and found that they are expensive and ineffective in generating employment and economic growth.</p>
<p>Wisconsin residents may be learning this the hard way after their government offered electronics manufacturer Foxconn over $4 billion in incentives in exchange for a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/10/18296793/foxconn-wisconsin-location-factory-innovation-centers-technology-hub-no-news">promise to build</a> a high-tech facility that is supposed to create 13,000 jobs. But since the <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/07/26/scott-walker-heads-d-c-trump-prepares-wisconsin-foxconn-announcement/512077001/">2017 announcement</a>, the company <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/08/wisconsin-governor-says-foxconn-is-again-likely-to-miss-job-targets.html">has failed to meet job targets</a> and even <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/5/18652710/foxconns-wisconsin-delays-factory-jobs-revise-contract-tony-evers-scott-walker-trump">downgraded the type of facility</a> it plans to build. </p>
<h2>3. A failure of oversight</h2>
<p>A third problem is that government agencies fail to provide effective oversight to ensure that company promises on investment and employment like Foxconn’s are upheld. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/2861/19-6full.pdf?mod=article_inline">legislative audit found</a> that the Wisconsin agency responsible <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/wisconsin-economic-development-group-paid-for-jobs-added-in-other-states-11560250801">follows problematic oversight practices</a> and failed to verify that companies created the number of jobs or other goals they claimed. </p>
<p>Wisconsin isn’t alone. Many states and municipalities provide limited oversight of the economic incentives they offer and often rely on companies’ <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/%7E/media/assets/2016/04/betterincentiveinformation.pdf">self-reported data</a> to determine whether they’ve met targets. In Texas, doctoral candidate Calvin Thrall and I <a href="https://theconversation.com/amazon-hq2-texas-experience-shows-why-new-yorkers-were-right-to-be-skeptical-111137">found</a> that the state even allowed companies to renegotiate their job creation targets, sometimes the day before they were required to report compliance with an incentive agreement. </p>
<p>And even though these deals are often accompanied by splashy PR campaigns that highlight how many jobs will be created, the incentive contracts often don’t even include actual <a href="https://www.sao.texas.gov/reports/main/15-003.pdf">job creation requirements</a>. And <a href="https://icma.org/sites/default/files/306723_Economic%20Development%202014%20Survey%20Results%20for%20website.pdf">only 56% of cities surveyed</a> indicated that they required a performance agreement before offering incentives.</p>
<p>New Jersey investigators found similar <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6157686-New-Jersey-Task-Force-on-EDA-s-Tax-Incentives.html">oversight problems</a> and other shortcomings in its economic development program.</p>
<p>Finally, a <a href="https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/examining-local-subsidy-transparency">lack of transparency surrounding these programs makes</a> it hard for others to determine whether taxpayers got what they were promised. </p>
<h2>Ending incentives</h2>
<p>So you’re probably wondering, if these incentives don’t work, why do government officials continue to use and promote them? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/incentives-to-pander/E0003C20215EDA5047EA0831FEEB6D92%20Eddy%20Malesky">book I wrote</a> with Malesky and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12106">related paper</a> showed how these incentives provide a way for politicians to take credit for business investment – in the hopes that it will give them a lift in their next election. All they have to do is convince voters that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1669748">these programs work</a> and that the grand promises being made when officials cut ribbons in well-publicized ceremonies will eventually pan out. </p>
<p>Powerful special interest groups are also to blame, as they play a big role in <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2017/04/03/how-savvy-financiers-pitch-complex-investment-programs">shaping incentive programs</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-incentives/boeing-lobby-group-team-up-to-defend-8-7-billion-in-state-tax-breaks-idUSKBN14U23V">lobby</a> vigorously for lawmakers to create them and keep them alive. </p>
<p>Rather than reform or rebrand these programs, I believe states should take the advice of some of <a href="https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3759">their own evaluations</a> of these programs and eliminate them. Taxpayers would be better off without them.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Jensen has received funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to study economic development incentives. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center.</span></em></p>Recent scandals involving economic development programs in New Jersey and Maryland highlight their many flaws, including a lack of oversight and their ineffectiveness.Nathan Jensen, Professor of Government, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1195862019-07-09T11:23:25Z2019-07-09T11:23:25ZThe forgotten history of segregated swimming pools and amusement parks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282884/original/file-20190705-51284-qnnnb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When a group of white and African American integrationists entered a St. Augustine, Fla. segregated hotel pool in 1964, the hotel manager poured acid into it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Florida-United-States-APHS126999-Civil-Rights-Florida-1964/44f1deef9c3f4d3da98611e9f82e5673/5/0">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Summers often bring a wave of childhood memories: lounging poolside, trips to the local amusement park, languid, steamy days at the beach. </p>
<p>These nostalgic recollections, however, aren’t held by all Americans. </p>
<p>Municipal swimming pools and <a href="http://www.napha.org/LibraryResources/FactsFigures/GreatMoments/tabid/69/Default.aspx#paging:currentPage=0">urban amusement parks flourished</a> in the 20th century. But too often, their success was based on the exclusion of African Americans.</p>
<p>As a social historian who has <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15035.html">written a book on segregated recreation</a>, I have found that the history of recreational segregation is a largely forgotten one. But it has had a lasting significance on modern race relations. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807871270/contested-waters/">Swimming pools</a> and <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469628721/the-land-was-ours/">beaches</a> were among the most segregated and fought over public spaces in the North and the South.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/73675/making-whiteness-by-grace-elizabeth-hale/9780679776208/">White stereotypes of blacks as diseased and sexually threatening</a> served as the foundation for this segregation. City leaders justifying segregation also pointed to <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520257474/mean-streets">fears of fights breaking out if whites and blacks mingled</a>. Racial separation for them equaled racial peace. </p>
<p>These fears were underscored when white teenagers attacked black swimmers after activists or city officials opened public pools to blacks. For example, whites threw nails at the bottom of pools in Cincinnati, poured bleach and acid in pools with black bathers in St. Augustine, Florida, and beat them up in Philadelphia. In my book, I describe how in the late 1940s there were major swimming pool riots in St. Louis, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.</p>
<h2>Exclusion based on ‘safety’</h2>
<p>Despite civil rights statutes in many states, the law did not come to African Americans’ aid. In Charlotte, North Carolina, for example, the chairman of the Charlotte Park and Recreation Commission in 1960 <a href="https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/1003/collection.html">admitted that “all people have a right under law to use all public facilitates including swimming pools.”</a> But he went on to point out that “of all public facilities, swimming pools put the tolerance of the white people to the test.” </p>
<p>His conclusion: “Public order is more important than rights of Negroes to use public facilities.” In practice, black swimmers were not admitted to pools if the managers felt “disorder will result.” Disorder and order defined accessibility, not the law. </p>
<p>Fears of disorder also justified segregation at amusement parks, which were built at the end of trolley or ferry lines beginning in 1890. This was particularly true at park swimming pools, dance halls and roller-skating rinks, which were common facilities within parks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282888/original/file-20190705-51253-1qxeoqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surrounded by a group of white youths, an unidentified black man grimaces as a policeman tries to halt an attack on him in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Missouri-United-/f1eabf7439e5da11af9f0014c2589dfb/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These spaces provoked the most <a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/0701">intense fears</a> of racial mixing among young men and women. Scantily clad bathers flirting and playing raised the specter of interracial sex and some feared for young white women’s safety. </p>
<p>Some white owners and customers <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374523145">believed that recreation</a> only could be kept virtuous and safe by excluding African Americans and promoting a sanitized and harmonious vision of white leisure. However, my work shows that these restrictions simply perpetuated racial stereotypes and inequality.</p>
<p>This recreational segregation had a heartbreaking impact on African American children. For example, in his 1963 <a href="https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html">“Letter from Birmingham Jail,”</a> Martin Luther King Jr. described the tears in his daughter’s eyes when “she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children.”</p>
<h2>Protests at pools</h2>
<p>Major civil rights campaigns targeted amusement park segregation, most notably at <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-gwynn-oak-park-20130707-story.html">Gwynn Oak Park in Baltimore</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/glec/learn/historyculture/summer-of-change.htm">Glen Echo Park</a> outside of Washington, D.C. And other parks, such as <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/06/28/struggle-humanequality/11542217/">Fontaine Ferry in Louisville</a>, were sites of major racial clashes when African Americans sought entrance. </p>
<p>By the early 1970s, most of America’s urban amusement parks like Cleveland’s Euclid Beach and Chicago’s Riverview were closed for good. Some white consumers perceived the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_American_amusement_park_industry.html?id=0ZgkAQAAIAAJ">newly integrated parks as unsafe</a> and in turn park owners sold the land for considerable profit. Other urban leisure sites – public swimming pools, bowling alleys and roller-skating rinks – also closed down as <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/8043.html">white consumers fled cities for the suburbs</a>. </p>
<p>The increase of gated communities and homeowners associations, what the political scientist <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300066388/privatopia">Evan McKenzie</a> calls “privatopia,” also led to the privatization of recreation. Another factor contributing to the decline of public recreation areas was <a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002784899">the Federal Housing Administration, which in the mid-1960s openly discouraged public ownership of recreational facilities.</a> Instead, they promoted private homeowner associations in planned developments with private pools and tennis courts. </p>
<h2>Lasting legacy</h2>
<p>After the 1964 Civil Rights Act desegregated public accommodations, municipalities followed different strategies intended to keep the racial peace through maintaining segregation. Some simply filled their pools in, leaving more affluent residents the option of putting in backyard pools. Public pools also created membership clubs and began to charge fees, which acted as a barrier to filter out those pool managers felt were “unfit.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282904/original/file-20190705-51312-mdfcsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Passengers on the Parachute Jump ride see throngs of people on the boardwalk and beach at the Coney Island Amusement Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1957.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Domestic-News-New-York-/d91ad1ddf130445c9d2bd4c0e0fe9f7d/15/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over time, cities defunded their recreational facilities, leaving many urban dwellers with little access to pools. Ironically, <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo3640481.html">some blamed African Americans for the decline of urban amusements</a>, disregarding the decades of exclusion and violence they had experienced. </p>
<p>The racial stereotypes that justified swimming segregation are not often openly expressed today. However, we still see their impact on our urban and suburban landscapes. Closed public pools and <a href="https://www.unitedskatesfilm.com/">shuttered skating rinks</a> degrade urban centers.</p>
<p>And there are moments when one hears the direct echo of those earlier struggles. In 2009, for example, the owner of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/us/11pool.html">private swim club in Philadelphia</a> excluded black children attending a Philadelphia day care center, saying they would change the “complexion” of the club.</p>
<p>In 2015 in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/mckinney-tex-pool-party-dispute-leads-to-police-officer-suspension.html">wealthy subdivision outside of Dallas, police targeted black teenagers attending a pool party</a>. </p>
<p>These incidents, and our collective memories, are explicable only in the context of a rarely acknowledged history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria W. Wolcott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Municipal swimming pools flourished in the 20th century. But too often, their success was based on the exclusion of African Americans.Victoria W. Wolcott, Professor of History, University at BuffaloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1180892019-06-04T20:18:33Z2019-06-04T20:18:33ZHackers seek ransoms from Baltimore and communities across the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277964/original/file-20190604-69091-n0othk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1016%2C729%2C3720%2C2447&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many of Baltimore's city services are crippled by a cyberattack.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/laptop-blank-screen-on-tableblur-background-440302609">The Conversation from City of Baltimore and Love Silhouette/Shutterstock.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The people of Baltimore are beginning their fifth week under an <a href="https://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-cyber-attack-security-ransomware-baltimore-bitcoin.html">electronic siege</a> that has prevented residents from <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-open-baltimore-ransomware-20190513-story.html">obtaining</a> building permits and business licenses – and even <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/725118702/ransomware-cyberattacks-on-baltimore-put-city-services-offline">buying or selling homes</a>. A year after hackers <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-hack-folo-20180328-story.html">disrupted</a> the city’s emergency services dispatch system, city workers throughout the city are unable to, among other things, use their government email accounts or conduct <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-property-deeds-20190524-story.html">routine city business</a>. </p>
<p>In this attack, a type of malicious software called ransomware has encrypted key files, rendering them unusable until the city pays the unknown attackers 13 bitcoin, or about US$76,280. But even if the city were to pay up, there is no guarantee that its files would all be recovered; many ransomware attacks <a href="https://cyber-edge.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CyberEdge-2019-CDR-Report.pdf#page=14">end with the data lost</a>, whether the ransom is paid or not.</p>
<p>Similar attacks in recent years have <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/10/11/wannacry-cyber-attack-cost-nhs-92m-19000-appointments-cancelled/">crippled</a> the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world/">shipping giant Maersk</a> and <a href="https://www.recordedfuture.com/state-local-government-ransomware-attacks/">local, county and state governments across the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8902484-opp-warn-of-ransomware-attacks-on-municipal-governments/">Canada</a>.</p>
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<p>These types of attacks are becoming more frequent and gaining more media attention. Speaking as a career cybersecurity professional, the technical aspects of incidents like this are but one part of a much bigger picture. Every user of technology must consider not only threats and vulnerabilities, but also operational processes, potential points of failure and how they use technology on a daily basis. Thinking ahead, and taking protective steps, can help reduce the effects of cybersecurity incidents on both individuals and organizations.</p>
<h2>Understanding cyberattack tools</h2>
<p>Software designed to attack other computers is nothing new. Nations, private companies, individual researchers and criminals continue developing these types of programs, for a wide range of <a href="https://theconversation.com/america-is-dropping-cyberbombs-but-how-do-they-work-58476">purposes</a>, including digital warfare and intelligence gathering, as well as extortion by ransomware.</p>
<p>Many malware efforts begin as a normal and crucial function of cybersecurity: identifying software and hardware vulnerabilities that could be exploited by an attacker. Security researchers then work to close that vulnerability. By contrast, malware developers, criminal or otherwise, will figure out how to get through that opening undetected, to explore and potentially wreak havoc in a target’s systems.</p>
<p>Sometimes a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-software-vulnerabilities-and-why-are-there-so-many-of-them-77930">single weakness is enough</a> to give an intruder the access they want. But other times attackers will use multiple vulnerabilities in combination to infiltrate a system, take control, steal data and modify or delete information – while trying to hide any evidence of their activity from security programs and personnel. The challenge is so great that <a href="https://www.rsaconference.com/writable/presentations/file_upload/spo1-t11_combatting-advanced-cybersecurity-threats-with-ai-and-machine-learning_copy1.pdf">artificial intelligence and machine learning systems</a> are now also being incorporated to help with cybersecurity activities.</p>
<p>There’s some question about the role the federal government <a href="https://cybersecpolitics.blogspot.com/2019/05/baltimore-is-not-eternalblue.html">may have played</a> in this situation, because one of the hacking tools the attackers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/us/nsa-baltimore-ransomware.html">reportedly</a> used in Baltimore was <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/12/technology/nsa-michael-hayden-us-hacker-thief/index.html">developed</a> by the U.S. National Security Agency, which the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/us/nsa-baltimore-ransomware.html">NSA has denied</a>. However, hacking tools stolen from the NSA in 2017 by the hacker group <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/shadow-brokers/527778/">Shadow Brokers</a> were used to launch <a href="http://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/at-least-3-different-groups-have-been-leveraging-the-nsa-eternalblue-exploit-whats-went-wrong">similar attacks</a> within months of those tools being posted on the internet. Certainly, those tools should never have been stolen from the NSA – and should have been better protected. </p>
<p>But my views are more complicated than that: As a citizen, I recognize the NSA’s mandate to research and develop advanced tools to protect the country and fulfill its national security mission. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-spies-use-secret-software-vulnerabilities-77770">like many cybersecurity professionals</a>, I remain conflicted: When the government discovers a new technology vulnerability but doesn’t tell the maker of the affected hardware or software until after it’s used to cause havoc or disclosed by a leak, everyone is at risk.</p>
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<h2>Baltimore’s situation</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.govtech.com/security/Estimates-Put-Baltimores-Ransomware-Recovery-at-18-2-M.html">estimated $18 million cost of recovery</a> in Baltimore is money the city likely doesn’t have readily available. Recent research by some of my colleagues at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, shows that many state and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13028">local governments remain woefully underprepared</a> and underfunded to adequately, let alone proactively, deal with cybersecurity’s many challenges. </p>
<p>It is concerning that the ransomware attack in Baltimore exploited a vulnerability that has been publicly <a href="https://gizmodo.com/you-need-to-patch-your-older-windows-pcs-right-now-to-p-1835158876">known</a> about – with an available fix – <a href="http://fortune.com/2019/06/01/baltimore-nsa-ransowmare-microsoft-windows-eternalblue/">for over two years</a>. NSA had developed an exploit (code-named EternalBlue) for this discovered security weakness but didn’t alert Microsoft about this critical security vulnerability until early 2017 – and only after the Shadow Brokers had stolen the NSA’s tool to attack it. Soon after, Microsoft <a href="https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/04/14/protecting-customers-and-evaluating-risk/">issued a software security update</a> to fix this key flaw in its Windows operating system.</p>
<p>Admittedly, it can be very complex to manage software updates for a large organization. But given the media coverage at the time about the unauthorized disclosure of many NSA hacking tools and the vulnerabilities they targeted, it’s unclear why Baltimore’s information technology staff didn’t ensure the city’s computers received that particular security update immediately. And while it’s not necessarily fair to <a href="https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2019/05/nsa-deflects-blame-baltimore-ransomware-attack/157376/">blame the NSA</a> for the Baltimore incident, it is entirely fair to say that the knowledge and techniques behind the tools of digital warfare are out in the world; we must learn to live with them and adapt accordingly.</p>
<p><iframe id="g2C5x" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/g2C5x/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Compounding problems</h2>
<p>In a global society where people, companies and governments are increasingly dependent on computers, digital weaknesses have the power to seriously disrupt or destroy everyday actions and functions.</p>
<p>Even trying to develop workarounds when a crisis hits can be challenging. Baltimore city employees who were blocked from using the city’s email system tried to set up free Gmail accounts to at least get some work done. But they were initially blocked by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637638/google-gmail-baltimore-ransomware-attacks">Google’s automated security systems</a>, which identified them as <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-gmail-accounts-20190523-story.html">potentially fraudulent</a>. </p>
<p>Making matters worse, when Baltimore’s online services went down, <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-city-agencies-ransomware-20190509-story.html">parts</a> of the city’s municipal phone system couldn’t handle the resulting increase in calls attempting to compensate. This underscores the need to not only focus on technology products themselves but also the policies, procedures and capabilities needed to ensure individuals and/or organizations can remain at least minimally functional when under duress, whether by cyberattack, technology failures or acts of nature.</p>
<h2>Protecting yourself, and your livelihood</h2>
<p>The first step to <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-easier-to-defend-against-ransomware-than-you-might-think-57258">fighting a ransomware attack</a> is to regularly back up your data – which also provides protection against hardware failures, theft and other problems. To deal with ransomware, though, it’s particularly important to keep a few versions of your backups over time – don’t just rewrite the same files on a backup drive over and over. </p>
<p>That’s because when you get hit, you’ll want to determine when you were infected and restore files from a backup made before that time. Otherwise, you’ll just be recovering infected data, and not actually fixing your problem. Yes, you might lose some data, but not everything – and presumably only your most recent work, which you’ll probably remember and recreate easily enough.</p>
<p>And of course, following <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-easier-to-defend-against-ransomware-than-you-might-think-57258">some of cybersecurity’s best practices</a> – even just the basics – can help prevent, or at least minimize, the possibility of ransomware crippling you or your organization. Doing things like running current antivirus software, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-petya-ransomware-attack-shows-how-many-people-still-dont-install-software-updates-77667">keeping all software updated</a>, using <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-truly-secure-passwords-6-essential-reads-84092">strong passwords</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-age-of-hacking-brings-a-return-to-the-physical-key-73094">multifactor authentication</a>, and not blindly trusting random devices or email attachments you encounter are just some of the steps everyone should take to be a good digital citizen.</p>
<p>It’s also worth making plans to work around potential failures that might befall your email provider, internet service provider and power company, not to mention the software we rely on. Whether they’re attacked or <a href="https://gizmodo.com/major-google-outage-hits-youtube-g-suite-and-third-pa-1835189852">simply fail</a>, their absence can disrupt your life.</p>
<p>In this way, ransomware incidents serve as an important reminder that cybersecurity is not just limited to protecting digital bits and bytes in cyberspace. Rather, it should force everyone to think broadly and holistically about their relationship with technology and the processes that govern its role and use in our lives. And, it should make people consider how they might function without parts of it at both work and home, because it’s a matter of when, not if, problems will occur.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Forno has received research funding related to cybersecurity from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Defense (DOD) during his academic career, and sits on the advisory board of BlindHash, a cybersecurity startup focusing remedying the password problem.</span></em></p>Ransomware has crippled governments and companies around the world, encrypting data and demanding payment for the decryption key – though that’s no guarantee of recovering the information.Richard Forno, Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & Internet Researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105622019-04-23T10:43:12Z2019-04-23T10:43:12ZA quest to reconstruct Baltimore’s American Indian ‘reservation’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268647/original/file-20190410-2898-a5njk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of East Baltimore Church of God, which was founded by Lumbee Indians, and was once located in the heart of 'the reservation,' in the 1700 block of E. Baltimore Street.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo courtesy of Rev. Robert E. Dodson Jr., Pastor, East Baltimore Church of God</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A few years ago, I invited a group of students to go on a short walking tour of the Lumbee Indian community of East Baltimore. </p>
<p>Lumbee are indigenous to North Carolina but have been present in Baltimore since at least as early as the 1930s. My grandparents moved here in 1963 with their three children, one of whom was my mother. I was born here, and that makes me a first-generation Baltimore Lumbee. I grew up to be a <a href="http://ashleyminnerart.com/">community-based visual artist</a> and a folklorist. I’m currently a doctoral candidate at <a href="http://amst.umd.edu/">University of Maryland College Park</a>, where I’m finishing my dissertation on the changing relationship of Lumbee people to the neighborhood in Baltimore where they settled.</p>
<p>I had given such tours informally many times before, and had developed a familiar route and narrative along the way: <a href="http://srt-wwwburnt-primary.hgsitebuilder.com/south-broadway">South Broadway Baptist Church</a>, the <a href="https://baltimoreamericanindiancenter.org/">Baltimore American Indian Center</a>, the Vera Shank Daycare and Native American Senior Citizens building. </p>
<p>This particular time, an elder of the community had come along with us. Naturally, I ceded the responsibility of leading the tour to her. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1049&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1049&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268867/original/file-20190411-44790-ovpdqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1049&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Baltimore American Indian Center, 113 S. Broadway, is the hub of cultural activities for area Indians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by John Davis, The News American, October 24, 1985. Baltimore News American Photo Archive, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Maryland College Park. Permission granted by the Hearst Corporation</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We started out on my usual route, but, to my surprise, she stopped us just outside <a href="http://srt-wwwburnt-primary.hgsitebuilder.com/south-broadway">South Broadway Baptist Church</a> to talk about an Indian jewelry store that used to be next door. This was news to me. I didn’t remember the store because it was gone before my time. </p>
<p>I started to wonder: How much more don’t I know about the places and spaces Lumbee people once had here?</p>
<p>Drawing on the memories of our elders, the annals of local newspapers and other archival materials, I am now mapping and reconstructing East Baltimore’s historic Lumbee Indian community. </p>
<p>With the neighborhood being redeveloped and the Lumbee population shifting, I see this as an urgent project of reclamation – of history, of space and of belonging.</p>
<h2>The birth of Baltimore’s ‘reservation’</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.lumbeetribe.com/">The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina</a> is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River, and the ninth-largest in the United States. </p>
<p>Our homeland is in southeastern North Carolina, with members residing primarily in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties. We take our name from the Lumbee River that winds through tribal territory, which is mostly rural and otherwise characterized by pines, farmland and swamps.</p>
<p>Following World War II, thousands of Lumbee Indians migrated from North Carolina to Baltimore seeking jobs and a better quality of life. They settled on the east side of town, in an area that bridges the neighborhoods of Upper Fells Point and Washington Hill, <a href="http://lumbee.library.appstate.edu/bibliography/futc002">64 blocks</a> mostly comprising brick row houses with marble steps. </p>
<p>To many Lumbee newcomers, the buildings all looked identical. It was a world apart from the farm houses, tobacco barns, fields and swamps of home.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFvt6tjn6K","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>In this urban landscape, Lumbee people stood out – neither looking like the Indians on TV, nor neatly fitting into any of the races or ethnicities already living in Baltimore. </p>
<p>Today, most Baltimoreans would be surprised to learn that the area was once so densely populated by Indians that it was known as “the reservation.” An anthropologist who did fieldwork in the community during its heyday <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3318154">wrote</a> that it was “perhaps the single largest grouping of Indians from the same tribe in an American urban area.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268646/original/file-20190410-2901-1dcghwi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Inter-Tribal Restaurant was owned and operated by the Baltimore American Indian Center in the unit block of South Broadway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo courtesy of the Baltimore American Indian Center</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Lumbee community has gradually spread out in years since, so my own generation never experienced “the reservation” as such. But even within our own lifetimes – and especially over the last 15 years – we’ve seen the Lumbee population in the city sharply decline. The majority of our people have moved out to Baltimore County and beyond. Others have returned to North Carolina. </p>
<p>The old neighborhood is now being rapidly redeveloped. Historic buildings have been retrofitted. New luxury apartments abound. With the closure and sale of the former Vera Shank Daycare and Native American Senior Citizens building, the sole real estate that the Baltimore Indian Center owns is the building it occupies. The remaining elders are now in their 70s and 80s. </p>
<p>I know that I have arrived at this work in a crucial moment.</p>
<h2>The neighborhood as it once was</h2>
<p>In order to learn more about the historic community, I went to the elders first. </p>
<p>I was completely floored by what I learned. I had known about the places I already mentioned, along with a couple of much-fabled bars. But they talked about other restaurants, shops, more churches, more bars, investment properties and even a dance hall that were all Lumbee community-owned or frequented.</p>
<p>Nearly all of the sites described to me by the elders have been repurposed several times since the 1950s, if not demolished and utterly wiped from the landscape. Entire city blocks have disappeared. </p>
<p>How, then, could I even begin to pinpoint where things used to be? </p>
<p>This question prompted a spree of digging and plundering through many local institutional archives in search of clues that would help me reconstruct “the reservation.”</p>
<p>At the downtown branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, I was able to leaf through many historic newspaper clippings about the community and the early endeavors of the Baltimore American Indian Center, founded in 1968 as the “American Indian Study Center.” I even held original copies of the American Indian Study Center’s first newsletters, mailed directly from the center to the library.</p>
<p>I got a cartography lesson at the Johns Hopkins University’s Eisenhower Library, which led me to visit the Baltimore City Archives, where I was able to handle original <a href="https://baltimorecityhistory.net/research-at-the-baltimore-city-archives/the-geography-of-baltimore-city-sources/">Sanborn maps</a>. These maps provide extremely detailed aerial views of the neighborhood, including footprints of buildings that no longer exist. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268651/original/file-20190410-2914-k2zjxx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sanborn Map Company published detailed maps of U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries for fire insurance companies. Since they contain so much detailed information, they’re invaluable resources that show how American cities have changed over many decades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by the author, Baltimore City Archives</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later, at the <a href="https://chap.baltimorecity.gov/">Baltimore City Department of Planning’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation</a>, I was thrilled to find actual street-level photographs of many of the buildings, which, ironically, were documented as a result of urban renewal.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268657/original/file-20190410-2918-63r3jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In his youth, Clyde Oxendine was a boxer and the bouncer at The Volcano, a bar frequented by Lumbee Indians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by C. Cullison, The News American, September 30, 1963. Baltimore News American Photo Archive, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Maryland College Park. Permission granted by the Hearst Corporation</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Hornbake Library at University of Maryland College Park, I was able to consult several volumes of <a href="https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=327119&p=2197762">Polk Baltimore City Directories</a>. I had presumed these were no more than old phone books. Instead, these volumes detail the individuals and businesses that occupied every building in Baltimore, street by street, block by block, in a given year. Not only was I able to confirm addresses of the community sites the elders had described, but in many instances, I was also able to see where they, themselves, had lived.</p>
<p>The Hornbake Library also houses the <a href="https://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/students-at-work-the-baltimore-news-american-photo-archives/">Baltimore News American photo archive</a>, where I found portraits of community legends. There were Elizabeth Locklear, Herbert Locklear and Rosie Hunt – all founders of the Center. There was Clyde Oxendine, a boxer and the bouncer of the infamous Volcano, the meanest of mean Indian bars. And in the first folder of unprocessed photos I opened, I found, of all people, Alme Jones, the maternal grandmother of my fiance.</p>
<h2>Preserving the past for future generations</h2>
<p>So far, <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qn0-0XpRKaE4VMGkVBxHB-5FGe8EHa8l&usp=sharing">we have mapped 27 Lumbee-owned or frequented sites</a> in and around the neighborhood.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1Qn0-0XpRKaE4VMGkVBxHB-5FGe8EHa8l" width="100%" height="480"></iframe>
<p>After identifying materials from these many far-flung institutional archives, it seems imperative to establish a new collection so that these treasures can live together, alongside personal archival materials that would never have been accessible to an outside researcher. Our community needs easy access to its history.</p>
<p>Naturally, the Baltimore American Indian Center is the prime repository for this new collection. <a href="https://library.umbc.edu/speccoll/">The Special Collections of the Albin O. Kuhn Library at UMBC</a> is another. This amazing, publicly accessible resource already houses the <a href="https://library.umbc.edu/speccoll/archives.php#c6">Maryland Folklife Archives</a> and the research of several Maryland folklorists. It will one day house my research as well.</p>
<p>Younger generations of Lumbee people should be able to see and know that our people’s history in Baltimore runs much deeper and wider than it seems. </p>
<p>All cities are steeped in stories. Whether we realize it or not, we are always walking in the footsteps of those who came before. </p>
<p>As Baltimore’s neighborhoods continue to change, its residents would do well to realize that Lumbee people have been here for a long time – and we’re still here.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley Minner works for University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and is a doctoral candidate at University of Maryland College Park. She is affiliated with the Maryland Folklife Network and the Baltimore American Indian Center. She is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. </span></em></p>A folklorist is working to preserve the history of a unique, urban community of Lumbee Indians.Ashley Minner, Lecturer, Folklorist, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/633022016-09-02T02:11:45Z2016-09-02T02:11:45ZHow American policing fails neighborhoods – and cops<p>How should we understand the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000003615939/video-shows-fatal-police-shooting.html">violence</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/dallas-police-shooting.html">counterviolence</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-milwaukee-riots_us_57b5e66ee4b0fd5a2f41c985">civil unrest</a> that mark the current era in American policing? </p>
<p>And, based on this understanding, what can we do to stop it?</p>
<p>Rather than focus on the characteristics of “bad apple” police officers or angry, revengeful citizens, sociologists like me tend to look at the context in which the violence occurs or at how individuals within this context interact.</p>
<p>For example, sociologists might study a sport like soccer. Participants learn the rules of the game, what behaviors they expect of each other, how to score points and what it means to be considered a “good” player. </p>
<p>Policing also has rules and logic that makes certain actions the right things to do and other actions the wrong things. </p>
<p>Sociologists like the influential French thinker <a href="http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9780511812507">Pierre Bourdieu</a> argue that the game itself, rather than innate personality traits, shape the worldviews of the players and make them act in a way that fits the logic of the field. </p>
<p>This suggests that to understand the behaviors of American police, one must uncover the logic of the “game” they’re playing – policing. </p>
<h2>No consequences</h2>
<p>In our book <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442260504/The-Violence-of-Hate-Understanding-Harmful-Forms-of-Bias-and-Bigotry-Fourth-Edition">“The Violence of Hate: Understanding Harmful Forms of Bias and Bigotry,”</a> Jack Levin and I describe how the game of law enforcement produces, in many police officers, a worldview and disposition that puts them at odds with the community. </p>
<p>Many police officers remain strangers and adversaries to residents rather than partners in keeping neighborhoods safe. Officers are highly suspicious of strangers, hypervigilant of danger, fixated on sorting the good people from bad and uninterested in the long-term harms to individuals and communities that result from their law enforcement efforts. Police and government leaders wrongly view the current law enforcement practices as a natural way of policing rather than a socially constructed game that can be changed.</p>
<p>So what do we know about the way the game is currently played?</p>
<h2>The game of law enforcement</h2>
<p><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12108-002-1007-1">I worked as a police officer for 13 years</a> and then a sociologist studying police behavior for another 13 years before undertaking a year-long research project at <a href="http://www.ci.wilmington.de.us/government/city-departments/department-of-police">my old police department</a> in Wilmington, Delaware in 2014. </p>
<p>On this return to the profession, I noticed that aside from having better technology, things had not changed much in terms of what the police were doing. What had grown noticeably worse, however, were the relationships between the police and minority communities, a situation mirroring the underlying racial tensions in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ferguson-mizzou-missouri-racial-tension_us_564736e2e4b08cda3488f34d">Ferguson</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/opinion/sunday/how-racism-doomed-baltimore.html">Baltimore</a> and <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/cleveland-segregation-115320">Cleveland</a>, among other U.S. cities at the time. </p>
<p>Through the lens of sociology, it was clear that Wilmington was focused on the old “law enforcement” game. This long tradition was exacerbated by the war on drugs among other policies that <a href="http://observer.com/2016/06/nypd-ig-no-link-between-quality-of-life-enforcement-and-lower-crime/">overemphasize street-level arrests</a> as a way to improve the quality of life. Status and power in the department were tied tightly to street arrests, gun and drug seizures, and the heroics of “running and gunning,” a catch phrase for chasing down armed criminal suspects.</p>
<p>In this hardcore version of the law enforcement game, well-intentioned and highly competent officers seemed blind to the consequences of their actions and indifferent to harm it caused. It didn’t seem to matter to them whether a neighborhood was ultimately safer following police action, or whether convictions were won in court. It also didn’t seem to matter whether serious crimes like robbery or burglary were ever solved, or whether families and communities would suffer from widespread police sweeps and the disruption of mass arrests. Worse, nobody worried that the broken trust in the police would contribute indirectly to more killings. These things were not part of the logic. </p>
<p>The only thing that mattered was that “lockups” were made and that guns and drugs were seized. “Community policing” meant placating the community with a few friendly faces so that real police work – arresting criminals – could go on unimpeded. </p>
<p>My observations about the game of law enforcement are consistent with the published findings of recent Department of Justice investigations in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/883366/download">Baltimore</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2014/12/04/cleveland_division_of_police_findings_letter.pdf">Cleveland</a> and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf">Ferguson</a>. They also jibe with the reflections of <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9029.html">sociologist</a> Peter Moskos of John Jay College, who spent a year working at the Baltimore Police Department. </p>
<p>So what can we do to change this reality?</p>
<h2>A new policing game</h2>
<p>The current crisis in American policing requires dismantling the old law enforcement game and starting anew. Many police agencies, including <a href="http://www.ci.wilmington.de.us/government/city-departments/department-of-police">my old department</a>, are collaborating with the <a href="https://www.bja.gov/programs/vrn.html">U.S. Department of Justice</a> and organizations like the <a href="https://www.policefoundation.org">Police Foundation</a> to develop and implement a new game that redirects the work of the police away from law enforcement “outputs” such as arrests and drug seizures as a measure of success. This new approach emphasizes <a href="http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf">public safety “outcomes</a>,” like strong, safe, thriving <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=251259">neighborhoods</a>. </p>
<p>My work over the past several years has focused on identifying and measuring the underlying <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10439460410001674965">psychological processes in neighborhoods</a> that build community trust and cohesion in some places and “Stop Snitching” campaigns in others that reinforce barriers between police and citizens. Uncovering these hidden dynamics enables officers to tailor policing strategies toward <a href="http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=3190&issue_id=112013">strong neighborhoods</a>. </p>
<p>Strong neighborhoods are places where crime rates are low and where residents and the police work together to keep it that way. In 2014, during my research year, the Browntown neighborhood in southwest Wilmington was such a place. The Wilmington police worked closely with residents to build relationships through block-by-block organizing, regular neighborhood social events and collaborative problem solving. Surveys of this neighborhood at that time reflected strong support for the police and the willingness of residents to intervene as needed to prevent crime.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/08/17/baltimore-police-commissioner-kevin-davis-editorials-debates/88911038/">recent editorial</a> following the release of the Department of Justice report on the Baltimore Police Department, Kevin Davis, the new police commissioner, claimed that “most police officers come to work every day and consistently do the right thing.” </p>
<p>I agree that the vast majority of police officers want to do the right things. </p>
<p>But what constitutes the “right thing” is contingent on the game being played. Changing the goal of modern policing to creating strong neighborhoods creates a new game. It is the logic of this new game, rather than the moral reasoning of individual officers, that will lead to the cultural shifts in policing of the magnitude imagined by today’s <a href="http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf">police reformers</a> – including those protesting on the streets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James J. Nolan has received funding from U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing. </span></em></p>Violent cops are just playing by the rules American society has created for them. It’s time to change the rules.James J. Nolan, Professor of Sociology, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639852016-08-18T02:54:05Z2016-08-18T02:54:05ZDOJ report on Baltimore echoes centuries-old limits on African-American freedom in the Charm City<p>African-American rights in Baltimore have always been in jeopardy. The recently released <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/09/us/baltimore-justice-department-report/">report</a> from the Department of Justice on the Baltimore Police Department is sobering, but not surprising.</p>
<p>As a scholar of early African-American <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2012.661158">history in Maryland</a>, I see similarities between laws regarding enslaved and free blacks living in Baltimore prior to the Civil War, and the overpolicing of African-Americans today. African-Americans in antebellum and contemporary Baltimore share the same problem: limits on black freedom.</p>
<h2>Antebellum foundations for unequal treatment</h2>
<p>On the eve of the American Revolution, Maryland was second only to Virginia in the number of people it held in bondage. By the beginning of the 19th century, the number of free blacks began to rise. Baltimore had a significant free black population well before the <a href="http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xiv">14th Amendment</a> made blacks citizens. According to the 1790 <a href="http://www.censusfinder.com/maryland.htm">U.S. census</a>, 927 free blacks resided in the county that included Baltimore city. By 1830, Baltimore city and the surrounding county was home to some 17,888 free African-Americans.</p>
<p>Historian Barbara Field <a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300040326/slavery-and-freedom-middle-ground">notes</a> that the increase of free blacks in Maryland was a direct result of replacing tobacco harvesting, which required a full-time labor source, to wheat. Harvesting wheat did not require a year-round labor supply. Between the change in labor demands and African-Americans protesting their condition, the free black community in Virginia and Maryland grew.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arrival of freedmen and their families at Baltimore, Maryland – an everyday scene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress/Frank Leslie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was a concern for lawmakers. <a href="http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000204/html/am204--458.html">Laws</a> such as the 1790 Act Related to Freeing Slaves by Will or Testament were designed to extract the maximum amount of labor from the enslaved before they were awarded freedom, or their free black relatives could purchase it for them. This meant enslaved men were freed only when they ceased to be in peak physical condition, and enslaved women were freed after their childbearing years.</p>
<p>Once freed, African-Americans <a href="aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000204/html/am204--269.html">had to show</a> “proof of a sufficient livelihood,” affirming their ability to care for themselves, or otherwise end up in the city jail or re-enslaved. The irony of this proclamation was that once freed, African-Americans found ways to stave off poverty by working in trades similar to the jobs they had while enslaved. If they avoided the county jail, free blacks were subject to curfews and sanctions against traveling. Many counties in Maryland passed laws requiring free blacks to move out of the state for fear they would incite the local enslaved population to rebel.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most alarming attempt to address the problem of black freedom was the <a href="http://slavery.msa.maryland.gov/html/casestudies/mscscountycs.html">development</a> of the American Colonization Society (ACS) and its chapters in antebellum cities such as Baltimore. Under the guise of Christianity and missionary work, the ACS promised enslaved African-Americans all the rights and privileges of freedom, so long as they relocated to Liberia. Organized by white slaveholders, politicians and religious organizations, the ACS offered a solution to both slavery and the rise in free blacks in the United States – resettle blacks outside the country.</p>
<p>Black intellectuals of the time were divided over resettlement campaigns. Abolitionist newspapers <a href="http://www.accessible-archives.com/2014/02/realities-american-colonization-society/">published</a> countless articles protesting the efforts of the colonization society. Historian Robert Brugger <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/maryland-middle-temperament">notes</a> that a group of free blacks surrounded the gangplanks in the Baltimore harbor in an attempt to stop the forced removal of their friends and family to Liberia.</p>
<p>As these 19th-century examples demonstrate, policing African-American freedom has a long history in Baltimore. African-Americans could escape slavery, but they were not truly free. New laws were continually passed to limit, if not completely dismantle, the very few rights they possessed.</p>
<h2>Baltimore today: DOJ report documents violations of civil rights</h2>
<p>The findings in the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/883366/download">DOJ report</a> echo the restrictions on lives of antebellum free blacks in key ways. African-Americans were arrested in greater proportion than their nonblack peers. According to the report: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>BPD made roughly 44 percent of its stops in two small, predominantly African-American districts that contain only 11 percent of the City’s population. Consequently, hundreds of individuals — nearly all of them African American – were stopped on at least 10 separate occasions from 2010–2015. Indeed, seven African-American men were stopped more than 30 times during this period.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>African-Americans were frequently arrested for loitering. If their presence became a problem, whether real or perceived, Baltimore police exercised a zero-tolerance policy when it came to African-Americans resulting in unlawful searches, seizures and arrests. As in the 19th century, the mere presence of African-Americans provided grounds for arrest. </p>
<p>In the 19th century, attempts were made to remove blacks from society by, among other means, sending them to Liberia or forcing them to move away. Today, arresting and detaining African-Americans quarantines them from the rest of society. If the arrest sticks and the individual is prosecuted and found guilty, he is incarcerated. If convicted of a felony, he is not allowed to vote.</p>
<p>African-Americans make up 44 percent of the Baltimore police force and 63 percent of the population of Baltimore city. As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html">New York Times</a> points out, “Baltimore’s police department has a lower percentage of blacks than the population it serves. But in contrast to other cities that have been wracked by tension and protests over police confrontations with black men, the city’s mayor, its police commissioner, the state’s attorney are all black, giving a somewhat different tenor to clashes between the power structure and its critics.” Indeed, arguments about policing that exclusively point to racism or bias among officers as the root of the problem don’t hold for cities like Baltimore. I believe the problem is also tied to anti-black aspects of the laws they are tasked with enforcing.</p>
<p>The DOJ report provides a critical opportunity to assess and reform disparities in the legal system, especially as we continually bear witness to the almost <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-fire-this-time-is-in-milwaukee/2016/08/15/da3f9a3e-632b-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?utm_term=.4bf97e1d3d70">daily death dance</a> between African-Americans and the police. It makes clear that African-American rights are in jeopardy. The key difference between African-Amerians in Baltimore then and now is that blacks are now citizens. They are entitled to, among other things, the right to due process under the law. </p>
<p>However, the DOJ findings make clear that African-Americans in Baltimore are disproportionately harassed, searched, detained and, in the case of Freddie Gray, murdered. The fear is not that the DOJ report has unmasked truths that we prefer to deny. The fear is that there will be a failure to reform the system in light of these findings. Greater than the fear is the reality that policing black citizens will continue to include practices that are eerily reminiscent of the past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Millward received funding from the American Association of University Women. </span></em></p>The Baltimore Police Department is found to have violated the civil rights of poor blacks. A historian explains why those findings are eerily similar to how the city treated blacks in the 1800s.Jessica Millward, Associate Professor of History, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/519832015-12-18T11:05:38Z2015-12-18T11:05:38ZTraining to reduce ‘cop macho’ and ‘contempt of cop’ could reduce police violence<p>It must be a terrible burden knowing that you might have to make a quick decision about whether to yell at someone, shock them, or shoot them dead. That is the weight inherent in the job of a police officer. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, we appropriately expect cops to maintain a peacekeeping mentality – to remain calm, patient and controlled even in life-or-death situations. Unfortunately, patient and nonaggressive policing will be rare unless we train officers to overcome the rules of what I call <a href="http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=nlj">cop macho.</a></p>
<p>While recognizing that <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machismo">machismo </a>has special meaning in Latina/o culture, I use the term to describe a gendered, aggressive outlook that is at the heart of our current policing problems. Police officers, including women, are often particularly masculine and the culture of police departments promotes masculine responses.</p>
<p>Those masculine responses can prove deadly. Outrage over police slayings of unarmed black civilians – from Chicago to Baltimore to New York to Ferguson and beyond – has provoked <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-police-reform-20151213-story.html">a national debate</a> on what should be done about the use of deadly force by law enforcement. In Ferguson earlier this week, city officials and the US Department of Justice have worked out a preliminary <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/us/ferguson-nears-deal-with-justice-dept-to-overhaul-police-force.html?_r=0">agreement</a> to overhaul the city’s police department, which would include new training for police officers. While the debate over police abuses has focused on race, I argue we need to consider how the desire to act in ways society deems manly has influenced policing.</p>
<h2>The masculine imperative of demanding respect</h2>
<p>One imperative of masculinity is that you may not allow another person to show you disrespect. As I have demonstrated in my <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1257183">research</a>, police officers sometimes punish disrespect because they believe “a challenge to their respect is a challenge to their manhood.” For many police officers, disrespect requires an escalation in force. </p>
<p>Such escalation is commonly known as <a href="http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=nlj">“contempt of cop.”</a> Being found in contempt of court is a punishment for disobeying a judge. “Contempt of cop” occurs when an officer punishes you for failing to comply with her request. </p>
<p>Sometimes the punishment takes the form of being charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest or a similarly amorphous crime simply for verbally standing up for your rights. Sometimes it takes the form of physical force. Two widely discussed incidents involving unarmed black civilians demonstrate this concept.</p>
<h2>Officer to Sandra Bland: ‘I will light you up.’</h2>
<p>In the July 2015 Sandra Bland case, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSEemvwOn4">dashcam video</a> records white male police officer Brian Encinia telling Bland, a black female, that he pulled her over because she “failed to signal the lane change.” When Bland declares that Encinia was tailing her, sped up toward her, then pulled her over for changing lanes to get out of his way, Encinia does not deny that description. Seemingly because Bland refuses to put out her cigarette, Encinia orders her out of the car at taserpoint, shouting, “I will light you up!” Encinia later slams Bland’s head into the ground. Three days later, Bland is found hanging dead in a jail cell. </p>
<p>We do not know whether a police officer physically killed Sandra Bland, but we do know that she would not be dead but for Officer Encinia’s strange decision to arrest her following a trivial traffic violation. That decision is not so surprising, however, when the encounter is viewed as an example of cop machismo. When Bland disrespected Encinia, he punished her for “contempt of cop.” </p>
<p>In the very same city of Prairie View, Texas, white police officer Michael Kelley tasered City Councilor Jonathan Miller, a young black male, for refusing to comply with another unnecessary order. In October 2015, Miller exits his apartment when police officer Penny Goodie, a black female, is asking black men who had been visiting him what they are up to. Officer Kelley arrives and, despite being told there is no crime afoot, orders Miller to his knees for questioning the police. Very quickly, Kelley <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/10/21/450611772/prairie-view-texas-reflects-on-history-of-racism-after-police-incidents">asks </a>Miller, “Do you always start problems?” </p>
<p>When the obviously unarmed, still kneeling Miller is slow putting his hands behind his back, Kelley tases him, with the approval of officer Goodie. The police department detains Miller for allegedly “interfering with police” and “resisting arrest.” Those charges seemed to punish Miller for his disrespect. </p>
<h2>‘Contempt of cop’ is not solely about race</h2>
<p>One might claim that “contempt of cop” cases are primarily about race, but I believe they are at least as much about gender. Officer Kelley seems to have been upset that Miller challenged him by asserting his rights. The fact that officer Goodie and police chief Larry Johnson, who is also black, supported the tasing suggests something more than race was at play. </p>
<p>Likewise, Encinia became incensed when Bland refused to cooperate with his gratuitous orders. In both cases, refusing to comply with officers’ orders pricked their egos and resulted in physical abuse. In both cases, it seems that a well trained officer could have deescalated the situation. </p>
<p>Two major proposals commonly suggested to address police abuse are problematic. The emerging <a href="http://www.proceduralfairness.org/policing.aspx">procedural fairness</a> methodology of policing, which emphasizes real-time explanations to civilians of why police are taking particular actions, seems to be a superficial change that is consistent with present, race-based targeting of suspects. The push to have police officers wear <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-for-pervasive-surveillance-of-the-police-35134">body cameras</a> is a positive development but is likely to have less value over time as police officer criminal defense attorneys learn to discredit even the most powerful videos, as was done in the unsuccessful first <a href="http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2316&context=vulr">Rodney King</a> trial. </p>
<p>Procedural fairness and body cameras do not reach the root causes of police abuse. If we are serious about reducing unnecessary police violence, we need to acknowledge the gendered aspects of police misuse of power. </p>
<p>The best method I have found for reducing cop macho is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/us/long-taught-to-use-force-police-warily-learn-to-de-escalate.html?_r=0">deescalation training.</a> For instance, a method called “verbal judo” teaches techniques for verbally deflecting hostility and verbally manipulating civilians into compliance. That approach would allow police officers to deemphasize the masculine preoccupation with disrespect and play the peacekeeping role we admire them for.</p>
<p>I concede that many situations fall into a gray area where civilian disrespect seemingly conveys an actual physical threat. Consequently, an awareness of the way cop macho leads to “contempt of cop” punishments will not prevent all police uses of force. Training machismo out of police officers’ habits would be worth the effort, though, because it would allow the deescalation of many potential police-civilian conflicts.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: The language in the section about Sandra Bland has been corrected to make clear that she was forced out of her car at “taserpoint” not “gunpoint.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Rudy Cooper is affiliated with Black Lives Matter-Cambridge, Massachusetts. </span></em></p>After two more fatal shootings by police of black men this week, we republish one legal scholar’s argument that what needs addressing is the police’s culture of masculinity.Frank Rudy Cooper, Professor of Law, Suffolk UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/440652015-07-22T18:19:34Z2015-07-22T18:19:34ZCould ‘Insight Policing’ have saved Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray and others?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89371/original/image-20150722-1487-18c41ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sandra Bland (left) died in jail after a routine traffic stop in Texas. Freddie Gray died after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The disturbing <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/sandra-bland-was-combative-texas-arrest-report-says.html?ref=us">video</a> released earlier this week of the stop and arrest of Sandra Bland highlights once again the excessive and inexcusable use of force by police officers in this country. The 28-year-old’s death in police custody after a routine traffic stop is currently being investigated as a murder. </p>
<p>Both ordinary citizens and experts have been calling for police departments to ramp up efforts to stop these kinds of abuses, but tragically, they continue. </p>
<p>Why they continue is perplexing and complicated – from history and power to the role of implicit bias. But one answer, as a Memphis cop put it to me in an interview for the <a href="http://www.insightconflictresolution.org/retaliatory-violence-insight-project.html">Retaliatory Violence Insight Project</a>, is what police officers call the “tricky part”: maintaining trust with citizens while enforcing the law.</p>
<h2>The tricky part</h2>
<p>Part of what is tricky, I found talking with police officers, is that traditional policing practice uses deterrence methods – force and the threat of punishment – to motivate compliance. </p>
<p>Most of us are familiar with these methods. Perhaps we have gotten a speeding ticket, or been subject to stop and frisk. The principle is the same – obey the law or face consequences. </p>
<p>Deterrence policies may stop crime in some cases, but they are counter to most people’s conception of <a href="http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1876&context=amcis2000">trust</a>, which depends on the belief that another person will not cause harm. </p>
<p>Because of this trust deficit, <a href="http://courses.washington.edu/pbafhall/514/514%20Readings/tyler%20justice.pdf">deterrence methods can fail</a> to produce compliance; and instead, produce <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/ferguson-protests-police-response_n_7698548.html">conflict</a> between the public and the police. Just watch Sandra Bland’s arrest video, or the public reaction to the high-force police response during last year’s <a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/08/14/video-standoff-in-ferguson-a.html">Ferguson protests</a>. </p>
<p>Research from the Retaliatory Violence Insight Project into the challenges police departments face curtailing retaliatory violence in high crime communities has produced an alternative: Insight Policing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.insightconflictresolution.org/insight-policing.html">Insight Policing</a> is a community-oriented, problem-solving policing practice designed to help officers take control of situations with the public before conflict escalates. By doing so, the police maintain trust and enhance the probability of cooperation in difficult situations of enforcement.</p>
<h2>The role of Insight Policing</h2>
<p>Insight Policing helps officers recognize and defuse conflict behavior when they see it – both their own and the public’s. Often, conflict behavior resembles such stress-based behaviors as fight, flight and freeze; these are the actions people take when they feel threatened.</p>
<p>The thing about conflict behavior, and what Insight Policing pays particular attention to, is that when we feel threatened, we are <a href="http://scar.gmu.edu/book-chapter/explaining-human-conflict-human-needs-theory-and-insight-approach">reactive</a>, not reflective, in how we respond. We do not take time to think about what we are doing, we simply <em>do,</em> in hopes that we will successfully stop the threat.</p>
<p>Sandra Bland refused to get out of her car (conflict behavior), responding to the threat the officer posed when he ordered her to. The officer pulled a taser on Bland (conflict behavior) in response to the threat her refusal posed to him as an agent of the law.</p>
<p>While clearly there are more dramatic instances of conflict behavior in police–citizen encounters – the high speed chase, the standoff – the more mundane conflict interactions are what are undermining police legitimacy.</p>
<p>When conflict behavior manifests as noncompliance, when citizens refuse to cooperate, as was the case with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/nyregion/staten-island-man-dies-after-he-is-put-in-chokehold-during-arrest.html?_r=1">Eric Garner</a>, <a href="http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/doj_report_on_shooting_of_michael_brown_1.pdf">Mike Brown</a>, <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bal-charging-documents-for-freddie-gray-20150420-htmlstory.html">Freddie Gray</a> and most recently <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/sandra-bland-was-combative-texas-arrest-report-says.html?ref=us">Sandra Bland</a>, what begins as mundane can become lethal when conflict behavior escalates. </p>
<p>Insight Policing, which has been piloted in two American police departments, Memphis, Tennessee, and Lowell, Massachusetts, is a promising tool for helping officers get a handle on the “tricky part.” Eighty percent of officers trained agreed that Insight Policing enhanced their ability to defuse the feelings of threat citizens have about their encounters with police officers. </p>
<h2>An example of Insight Policing</h2>
<p>Take an example from Memphis. Three Memphis officers trained in Insight Policing responded to a call for shots fired. They arrived on the scene to find a crowd of young men behind a house. They asked them the kinds of questions they always ask at the scene of a crime: “What happened?” “What did you see?” “Who did this?” The young men refused to cooperate: “We didn’t see anything.” “Leave us alone.” “We don’t know what you’re talking about.” </p>
<p>The officers suspected otherwise. And ordinarily, they reported, they would have arrested the young men on gang-related charges and questioned them down at the station – to delay any retaliation that might have been brewing as well as to get the information they were after. Instead, having been trained in Insight Policing, they recognized the young men’s resistance as conflict behavior. They dropped, for the moment, their crime investigator hats, and put on their conflict investigator hats. They used Insight Policing techniques to become curious about what was motivating the young men’s resistance. </p>
<p>What the officers found was not that the young men were protecting somebody or hiding something or breaking the law in some way, but that they had had trouble with police in the past. They did not want to speak because they were afraid of incriminating themselves.</p>
<p>Getting this information allowed the officers to delink the threat they posed by assuring the young men that they were not after them, they were after the shooter. They were able to build enough trust in the moment that the young men gave them the information they needed to catch the shooter later that night. </p>
<p>Had the officers used their power to arrest the young men, just for hanging out together, they would have played into the young men’s fear of incrimination. They would have escalated a situation, and who knows how it would have turned out. </p>
<p>By engaging the men in terms of their conflict behavior, the officers were able to build trust, garner cooperation and effectively enforce the law. </p>
<p>What if the officers who stopped Sandra Bland and Freddie Gray and Mike Brown and Eric Garner had been trained to recognize conflict behavior and defuse it? Perhaps history would be different.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Price is Director of the Insight Conflict Resolution Program at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She contributed to the development of Insight Policing through the Retaliatory Violence Insight Project, funded by the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. </span></em></p>Police in Lowell, Massachusetts and Memphis, Tennessee are using a new approach designed to help them build trust while enforcing the law.Megan Price, Director, Insight Conflict Resolution Program at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, George Mason UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.