World News: Lunching while black is not a crime

Top things you may have missed in policing this week

This June 1, 2018, file photo, shows a housing unit

Learning to bank behind bars

Educating prisoners is one of the most effective ways to keep them from returning to prison. And a new program launched in Pennsylvania is trying to do just that by teaching personal finance to inmates at the state's 25 correctional facilities.

The program, created by Becky MacDicken, an outreach specialist with Pennsylvania's Department of Banking and Securities, aims to help inmates become financially stable when they return to society. MacDicken teaches them to open bank accounts, handle taxes and establish credit, in the hopes that learning how to properly budget money will prevent recidivism.

A third of officer shootings start on foot

Chicago's police oversight agency recently released two different videos showing police officers shooting a subject after a foot chase. But according to a Chicago Tribune investigation, fatal foot chases are nothing new.

The analysis found that, from 2010 to 2015, about a third of all Chicago police shootings started with foot pursuits and ended with the subject getting wounded or killed. The city is currently working to reform its police department through increased officer training, closer tracking of foot pursuits and a potential new policy for handling foot chases.

Eating lunch while black isn't a crime

Oumou Kanoute, an African-American female student at Smith College, was simply eating lunch in a school common area when officers arrived to investigate a call about a "suspicious black male."

Kanoute stated on Facebook that a white employee made the call complaining that the student "seemed out of place." The rising sophomore wrote: "It's outrageous that some people question my being at Smith College, and my existence overall as a woman of color."

In a separate Facebook post, the student asked Smith College to release the identity of the caller so the caller can "confront and acknowledge the harm done to me as a student." A Smith College spokesman said that releasing the caller's name would violate the school's policy.

College President Kathleen McCartney apologized for the incident and stated that all staff will undergo anti-bias training.

Pregnant woman kicked by cop, gives birth

After less than a year with the North Miami Beach Police Department, officer Ambar Pacheco was fired for allegedly kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach while off duty.

Evoni Murray was rushed to the hospital and promptly gave birth.

Murray and Joseph Predelus fought with Ambar Pacheco and her sister, Mikaela Pacheco, on July 25. Ambar Pacheco said Predelus kicked her sister in the face and then said she "saw red and beat" the woman.

Murray's baby was due on August 4, but she gave birth to a healthy baby directly after the incident.

This wasn't Ambar Pacheco's first negative run-in with the law. When she was 18 she was booked in Miami-Dade County for theft, but participated in a diversion program (which generally give suspects the chance for rehabilitation in lieu of incarceration) before trial.

Find more on police and policing nationwide at policing.usatoday.com.

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