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(NEW YORK) — The Orlando Police Department created a new unit in 2021 that sends behavioral health experts instead of law enforcement officers to respond to 911 calls for mental health crises.

It’s in an effort — one of a number around the country — to avoid confrontations with law enforcement responding to non-violent calls and potentially avoidable fatal police shootings. More than 20% of people fatally shot by police since 2015 had mental illness, according to the Washington Post‘s “Fatal Force” database.

Initiatives like these to address community concerns about policing have been ongoing for years but picked up renewed momentum in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed.

Fatal police shootings have been a stubborn and increasingly visible flash point for tensions between communities and police, and the racial dynamics that underpin them, thanks in part to a proliferation of bystander video and police body camera footage.

But experts say there are some glimmers of hope — early indications that a shift may be taking place.

With greater attention being paid to police-community relations, de-escalation training and diversity in the ranks, there were 888 fatal police shootings nationwide in 2021 — down 133 from 1,021 in 2020, according to data from the Washington Post‘s database.

That’s a decrease of 13% year-over-year. The lowest number of fatal shootings in a full calendar year in the database, which stretches back to 2015, is 957 in 2016 and the average is about 991.

There is no comprehensive nationwide database of police use of force, though the FBI has been attempting to build one for years, so it is difficult to get an overall sense of how often police use their weapons.

Instead, private organizations have led the charge in compiling a more complete set of data.

The Washington Post, as well as Mapping Police Violence and the Gun Violence Archive, track and verify police-involved shooting deaths based on a collection of news accounts, social media postings and police reports.

Mapping Police Violence also reports a small decrease in the number of shooting deaths attributed to police, but says the 2021 fatal shooting totals are “similar” to those of years past.

Lowest numbers in 6 years for some states

There is notable variation, however, in the number of fatal police shootings on a state level where many states experienced a drop, according to the Washington Post database.

From 2020 to 2021, Florida saw the largest numeric drop in deadly police shootings, from 93 to 44, followed by decreases in California and Washington, according to the Washington Post data.

While some states saw declines, others saw increases. Illinois saw 10 more fatal police shootings in 2021, Mississippi experienced a rise of eight and New Mexico, Georgia, Nebraska and Idaho had six more shootings.

Some experts caution that a one-year decline doesn’t tell us very much and a decline in the number of police interactions may be a factor (arrests, for instance, declined dramatically from 2019 to 2020, the most recent year for which FBI data is available).

Police violence has been on the rise since the 1980s, according to University of Washington research that has been published in the Lancet. The research compiled independent and federal data in an attempt to get a full picture of police killings in the U.S.

However, other police reform experts interviewed by ABC News are cautiously optimistic about a potential inflection point in police use of force.

They say the call for accountability from protesters and leaders may be behind this apparent change, including what could be an increased conscientiousness on the part of officers in what otherwise may have become deadly altercations.

“We’ve seen the power of protesting in reshaping the public consciousness,” said Howard Henderson, the director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University. “We’ve been able to see the role of protesting and making sure that the policymakers recognize the concerns of the constituents.”

In Orlando, where the department has been working to change community policing, there were five fatal police shootings in 2020. In 2021, there was one. The numbers, though small, are significant, the department says, in highlighting the impact of efforts made to address community criticisms of police and reduce violence.

“The Orlando Police Department is dedicated to protecting our residents, visitors, and businesses,” an OPD spokesperson said in a statement about the drop in fatal police shootings and the efforts to improve policing. OPD has averaged 3.3 fatal shootings a year since 2015, the data shows.

“We are fully committed to listening to our community’s concerns and to engaging in conversations that will yield a path to positive and long-lasting relationships with our community members,” the statement read.

Tools for change

OPD’s Community Response Team launched in March 2021, but it has already answered 827 calls, assisted 815 people, and helped more than 300 of them access mental health treatment, according to Capt. Lovetta Quinn-Henry, who oversees the program.

Black men, Quinn-Henry said, make up the largest demographic of users.

“I’m just super proud that our agency has taken the first step to be one of the leading agencies to look at an alternative response to police for individuals in a mental health crisis,” Quinn-Henry said.

With these calls, she says responders focus on de-escalating situations, helping people in distress and connecting them with their needed treatment, support and resources.

This effort has reduced referrals to the criminal justice system for distressed individuals, decreased potential for violent interactions and lessens the burden of work on law enforcement officers, Quinn-Henry said.

Some of the seemingly minor mental health-related calls that this team responds to have the potential to escalate into police shootings when law enforcement is involved.

“We really weren’t servicing the individual [before],” Quinn-Henry added. “Having this alternative response gives us a little bit more opportunity to connect them to services. So, now the officers aren’t having those repeat calls. And we get them at the initial crisis level and prevent them from getting to that very acute aggressive level.”

This idea isn’t completely new: This kind of model has effectively been implemented in Oregon, Colorado, Washington and more.

Another initiative replicated across the country is OPD’s citizen review board.

Orlando, like many other cities, established a citizen review board — an independent citizen-run oversight committee — about 10 years ago, to address concerns with local policing.

But board member Tom Keen said that after Floyd’s death and the movement against police use-of-force that followed, CRB meetings went from having just a few participants to having dozens. Community engagement increased dramatically, Keen said, offering citizens and police more insight into civilian relations with the police.

“We can’t take our eye off the ball,” Keen said. “We have to stay focused on making sure that our police department is well-trained and that they are serving the community and that’s one of the jobs of the board.”

Some community members have said they wish the board had more say in the investigative and punitive efforts in cases of abuse of power and use of force, but for now, Keen said, the board has been a valuable venue for citizens to speak directly with law enforcement to voice and plan a way to address concerns.

“We’re one of many voices for change and we’ve been fortunate that we’ve had very good leadership with both the mayor and with our current police chief,” Keen said.

OPD is also implementing a Response to Resistance policy that outlines a new use-of-force framework that is intended to mitigate the potential for excessive force. A recent independent review of the department by the police accountability research organization The Bowman Group is helping the agency fix its “very weak policy system,” according to OPD.

The power of protest

Millions have taken to the streets around the world since Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.

“I think people are conscientious over what looks like a disconnect between the police and, particularly, communities of color,” said James E. Wright II, an assistant professor at Florida State University.

“Police officers are more conscientious of their actions now,” he added. “They understand they don’t want to end up on the six o’clock news. If they’re conscientious of this behavior, they’re also conscientious of when they’re negligent.”

ABC News contributor and former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said that the protests are likely to have had a large impact on how officers engage with and police communities.

“What happens across the country, due to the 24-hour news cycle, affects everywhere in the country,” Boyce said in an interview. “If we had strong federal leadership on this, we would be able to have national standards in law enforcement where you wouldn’t have these [abuse of force] behaviors.”

Local leaders have also started to answer the demands of the public in several ways, according to Henderson.

Since Floyd’s death in May 2020, at least 3,428 state bills or executive actions on policing have been introduced, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state-based law enforcement legislation.

There has also been a rise in protocol changes that reduce the potential for confrontation or incarceration, like ending the enforcement of minor traffic violations or decriminalizing marijuana.

And there has also been a push to implement alternative policing units, civilian review boards, and beef up use-of-force and de-escalation training.

However, some researchers say a single-year push for reform and a drop in shootings isn’t enough to signal progress. Experts say the real test of how much impact these new tools are having remains to be seen in the years to come.

“Research shows that since 1980, 17,000 killings by police have gone uncounted,” Henderson said, citing the University of Washington report. “In order to adequately deal with it, you’ve got to know the extent to which it exists.”

Secondly, he emphasized decreasing unnecessary interactions between the police and the community.

“There’s just way too much interaction that we don’t necessarily need to have being responded to by police officers,” he said.

Lastly, Henderson also said the “qualified immunity” of police officers may also be a sticking point in the path against reducing police use-of-force. Qualified immunity means that officers are protected from many civil lawsuits for their conduct while on duty if it “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,” according to the FBI.

The recent efforts and the progress being made can’t be ignored though, Wright said.

“Moving forward, [the trend] will hold up if people continue to put political pressure on their local officials as well as their local leaders to hold not just police officers, but public servants, accountable,” Wright said.

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(NEW YORK) — An open door to an apartment unit where a space heater caught fire allowed the smoke to spread throughout all floors of a 19-story building in New York City on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News.

At least 17 people, including eight children, have died from the incident and more than 60 others were injured, according to the New York City Fire Department. All 17 victims died of accidental smoke inhalation, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday.

The city passed a law in 2018 mandating self-closing doors in all apartment buildings. It’s unclear whether those were operating properly at 333 East 181st St., located in the Tremont section of the Bronx. The high-rise was built as affordable housing in 1972 and has 120 units, according to city records.

“It appears the ability to have the smoke spread is due to the door being open,” Adams told ABC News in an interview Monday on “Good Morning America.” “There may have been a maintenance issue with this door and that is going to be part of the ongoing investigation.”

So far, investigators believe the building met all other standards for fire safety. There were a couple violations documented over the last few years but no outstanding issues, according to the mayor.

“This is all going to come out during the investigation,” he added. “This is really early in the investigation.”

The flames ignited Sunday morning before 11 a.m. ET, due to a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom of a duplex apartment on the third floor. In less than three hours, smoke enveloped all 19 floors. The building’s smoke alarms were operable at the time of the blaze, according to the New York City Fire Department.

More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of the five-alarm fire, smashing windows to rescue trapped residents. The mayor described the incident as “horrific” but praised the firefighters as heroes.

“Many of them, of their oxygen tanks were on empty,” Adams told ABC News. “But instead of turning back and exiting the building, they pushed through, through the smoke.”

Many of the injured were located on the upper floors and likely suffered from severe smoke inhalation. Approximately 13 people are in Bronx hospitals with life-threatening injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department.

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner has released the identities of the deceased victims, with the youngest being just 2 years old. Many of them were from the same families and had similar names, while none were carrying identification, the medical examiner’s office said.

The victims were identified as Sera Janneh, 27; Seydou Toure, 12; Haouwa Mahamadou, 5; Haji Dukary, 49; Haja Dukureh, 37; Mustapha Dukureh, 12; Mariam Dukureh, 11; Fatoumata Dukureh, 5; Fatoumata Drammeh, 5; Foutmala Drammeh, 21; Muhammed Drammeh, 12; Nyumaaisha Drammeh, 19; Omar Jambang, 6; and Fatoumata Tunkara, 43; Isatou Jabbie, 31; Hagi Jawara, 47; Ousmane Konteh, 2.

The New York City Fire Department previously reported that 19 people, including nine children, had died from the blaze, but the death toll was revised Monday due to a miscount.

All residents in need of a place to stay have been provided temporary shelter. They will later be moved into permanent housing as the building undergoes repairs, according to Adams.

“One thing about New York City, unfortunately, is that we are capable of dealing with crises,” he said. “We’ve dealt with so many of large proportion and we immediately kick in gear our coordinated efforts.”

The ongoing investigation into the deadly inferno is being led by the New York City Fire Department’s marshals.

The Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, the name of the joint venture that owns the building, said in a statement Sunday that it was “devastated” over the tragedy.

“We are devastated by the unimaginable loss of life caused by this profound tragedy,” the statement read. “We are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other city agencies as they investigate its cause, and we are doing all we can to assist our residents. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured, and we are here to support them as we recover from this horrific fire.”

Sunday’s blaze was the deadliest to occur in New York City in three decades. A total of 73 people died in fires citywide in all of 2021.

ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos, Julia Jacobo, Aaron Katersky and Ileana Riveros contributed to this report.

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(CHICAGO) — More than 350,000 public school students in Chicago are expected to resume in-person learning on Wednesday after a tentative agreement was reached between the school district and the Chicago Teachers Union to bolster classroom safety amid a wave of COVID-19 infections.

A deal was struck Monday night to end nearly a week of in-classroom cancellations and remote learning. Tuesday marked the fifth day students have been out of classrooms after a long holiday break.

The more than 25,000 teachers and staff in the nation’s third-largest school district are to return to their schools on Tuesday to prepare for reopening classrooms.

Negotiations between the CTU and the district focused on demands to expand student testing for the virus and to create a set of metrics designed to trigger closing schools and returning remote learning if coronavirus infections continue to soar. The talks grew contentious at times as union leaders accused Mayor Lori Lightfoot of “bullying” teachers back to the classrooms and school district officials accused the union of staging an “illegal walkout.”

Both sides filed complaints to a state labor board.

“Some will ask who won and who lost,” Lightfoot said Monday night. “No one wins when our students are out of the place where they can learn the best and where they’re safest. After being out of school for four days in a row, I’m sure many students will be excited to get back in the classroom with their teachers and peers. And their parents and guardians can now breathe a much deserved sigh of relief.”

Pedro Martinez, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, said the district is committed to the safety of its students, teachers and staff, and said the negotiations forged “some really good things.”

CTU President Jesse Sharkey said Monday that the union fought to improve classroom safety for both students and teachers.

“I’m ultimately proud the Chicago Teachers Union took a stand,” Sharkey said at a news conference. “We’re going to keep doing what’s right as we navigate this. It’s not a perfect agreement but we’ll hold our heads up high, as it was hard to get.”

The agreement also includes new incentives to boost the number of substitute teachers in the district and establishes metrics that will prompt a return to remote learning, but for individual schools, not the districtwide protocols for which CTU had asked.

The district also offered to spend about $100 million to implement a safety plan that includes air purifiers for all classrooms. The district said it will provide KN95 masks for all teachers and students.

The union’s governing body, composed of 700 members, voted by nearly a 2-to-1 margin — 63% to 27% — to end remote teaching. Rank-and-file members have until later this week to vote on whether to ratify the agreement.

Like Chicago, school districts nationwide are reeling from a surge in COVID-19 cases sparked by the highly contagious omicron variant.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is planning to reopen schools for in-person learning on Tuesday, although some schools in the nation’s second-largest school district have opted to delay reopening due to an increase in reported COVID-19 cases.

LAUSD officials are requiring all students and staff to get tested for COVID-19 before the first day of classes. The district announced on Monday that at least 65,630 of those tests have come back positive.

The Philadelphia School District announced on Friday that 46 schools would switch to virtual learning as the omicron variant and a winter storm took a toll on staffing.

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