In Focus: Technology to prevent hot car deaths; new approach to policing; real-life field of dreams

we had a false sense of security with the rear seat reminder an alert fails to protect a child I didn't know what to do was just so devastated now a family fights for better technology to prevent similar tragedies it can happen to anybody am I hurting you no okay can you breathe yes a new approach to policing it's the safest method of two-on-one restraint that has ever existed in law enforcement could a martial arts boot camp bridge the gap between police and their communities Pride for their country displayed on the diamond how support and a love for the game is helping immigrants build a home away from home around the country and in your community CBS News puts the stories that matter in Focus hello everyone and welcome I'm Maurice dubis over the next half hour we'll travel across the country to uncover stories that have a major impact on our lives and we'll talk with the story stellers as well who've dedicated their work to elevating these issues front and center we begin with a warning for parents and caregivers hot car deaths happen all too often in most cases the child is unintentionally left inside a vehicle many citing a change in their routines but how can it happen the advocacy group kids and car safety says on average 38 children die each year from heat stroke inside a vehicle and it's not just happening in states with the warmest temperatures a CBS News data analysis shows 83% of all hot car deaths over the last 6 years happened between May and September at least one death each week during the sweltering summer season CBS News National Consumer correspondent Usher Ki reports on the technology that some say is giving a false sense of security I think he would be a troublemaker for sure uh making a mess of the house I always wonder like what kind of student he would be in school he would be going to kindergarten on a June morning 3 years ago as the temperature climbed in Louisiana Thomas S just sat in a car seat in the back of his dad's truck Tyler cesa didn't realize he had forgotten his son parked outside his office for 6 hours I ran out to the car see I couldn't touch him I couldn't I didn't know what to do I was just so devastating police ruled the death an accident Tyler takes full responsibility he explains he was experiencing brain fog after being hospitalized with covid months earlier and that day he was distracted by an audit at work Mom Pamela says the family's usual morning routine had changed I think before this experience I was a little judgmental on that and thinking that how do people leave their kids in the car and forget their children and how has that perspective changed um that it could happen to anybody to address that a 2021 Law requires automakers install audio and visual rear seat reminder alerts in all new 2025 passenger vehicles most have already done this voluntarily your truck in this case had a rear seat reminder the way we thought all along how the technology worked in the truck was based on weight but his truck like many was not sensing the weight of a child in the back seat only whether he had open opened and closed the rear door at the start of his trip we had a false sense of security with the rear seat reminder six children including Thomas have died in cars equipped with those rear seat reminders now required by law does the law go far enough we've been working with the national highway traffic safety administration and they know that that's not really an adequate solution we got a demo of more advanced Solutions like radar systems that can even sense the breathing of a baby if it the sensor detects movement within the vehicle you're going to have the horn go off and you're also going to get an alert on your smart app yeah what kind of a difference would that have made for you if we' have had the technology in our vehicle that day Thomas would still be here that's just gut-wrenching joining me now with CBS News consumer correspondent Usher Ki Usher that was just agonizing to sit with those folks I mean just describe to me what that I as a parent you know it's so easy to be judgmental about something that a parent may or may not have done right or wrong but as a parent sitting across from them and feeling their pain and understanding it uh really it could happen to anybody and it does happen and the fact is you know as as they mentioned they had a rear seat alert and there is technology out there that Advocates say would do a better job of detecting whether or not there is a child left in the back of a car when your routine changes and you forget truly I mean we forget our glasses when they're on our heads sometimes right yeah absolutely oh man so what comes to the technology how much does it cost so that's the other thing right I mean we've been talking about this for years um kids in car safety has been tracking hot car deaths since the '90s really and there has been irration of Technology the radar technology that we showed you in this piece for example you know we talked to the alliance for automo Automotive Innovation which is the car manufacturers lobbying group and they didn't really want to talk about price but when we look through government documents we found that it cost about $20 to install this in a vehicle $20 less than a set of car floor format so it's not a huge investment it's just the wherewithal and whether or not there's going to be a requirement for it that's almost no investment $20 that's nothing to speak of why do you think parents have a false sense of security about the technology that's back there I think because there's a variety of technology in this case they thought that the the rear seat alert would tell them that there's a child back there but really how that truck worked was door logic and door logic basically works like this is if you open the back door before you get in the car and you close it then when you get out of the the car it'll make a a dinging sound now there's a couple problems with that in terms of what happens right we've already seen six children have died with those rear seat alerts so they're not adequate in reminding parents in many cases that they have left a person in the backseat sometimes you know those those alerts in this case they just sort of get drowned out with all the other beeps that happen in your car and so that's why there's a a lot of push for different technology like the radar technology um you know there's there's there's the weight technology which is what they thought they had but wasn't the case when they maybe it needs to be louder shall we say not just another annoyance we all and a different kind of alert right and some car manufacturers are doing that right they they've got alert systems where if it if it detects a child or anything that's breathing anyone that's breathing in the back of the car it will not only um you know send out a beep it will start honking the horn it will lower the uh the windows so there are alerts that will guarantee that you do not forget hopefully that there's someone in the back next level type of Engagement here what about mandating this in this country how close are we to actually seeing that happen well Nitsa was supposed to finalize rules in November of 2022 they've been discussing it for a long time since this became law in 2021 those rules have not come out yet the proposed rules were supposed to be issued um this August they've been delayed again to potentially the spring of 2025 so any good reason for that delay they're they say they're looking at all of the technology so when it comes to making those rules they are taking into consideration radar techn ol that exists that would be potentially better at detecting human life in the back of a car so as all this study goes on as all this delay take place uh takes place what should parents do or what tips or thoughts can they have to make sure that this doesn't happen to them I mean here's the thing right there the false sense of security extends to where you live right most people think this only happens in hot places but it doesn't as you mentioned in your intro this has happened in nearly every single state in the United States and uh it happens even when the temperature doesn't hit 80 90° uh there are documented deaths that have happened when the temperatur is as low as 60° so parents have to do whatever they need to set alarms on their phones if they have a regular routine uh one thing that we've heard is put something in the back seat with your child that you need when you get out of the car for you know maybe it's a purse maybe it's a laptop bag in some cases some people have even said take one of your shoes off and put it in the back seat so that you know to check before you you leave yeah if that doesn't work how about your phone cuz no one leaves no their pH that's the one thing gosh imagine sitting in a car with no air no ventilation and that temperature is slowly rising of course it becomes more dangerous when the sun is out and you've got that Greenhouse Effect and you've got the heat that continues to Pile in there and has nowhere to go and you know in those situations you have to be really really careful about what you're doing even leaving a child for a moment is not safe in a car that's unattended terrifying concept Usher Ki thanks so much for shining a light on it for us thank you really appreciate it and if you got a tip you can email Usher at Usher CBS and focus will continue right after a quick break coming up a groundbreaking approach to arrest tactics cops will get better trained and more effective in their use of force could a self-defense technique mend tensions between officers and the people they [Music] serve welcome back police across the the country are patrolling our streets with the goal of protecting and serving our communities in some situations though officers have to subdue a Suspect with force that force can turn deadly stats from the Bureau of Justice say in 2020 as many as 50 million Americans reported having interactions with police every year with more than 1 million involving force or the threat of force one estimate puts the number of Americans hurt by police over the last two decades at more than 1.6 million that's why the New York police department is starting to train officers in a specialized form of martial arts CBS News New York's Ali Balman got a first look at the course and why proponents argue it'll make it safer to put a suspect in handcuffs here am I hurting you no okay can you breathe yes we're in the NYPD police academy as officers are learning how to train the future officers in Brazilian jiu-jitsu why train them in Jiu-Jitsu Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling are both sports that utilize minimal 4 Force to control a subject so by using minimal Force to control a subject you prevent injuries to both the subject the civilians as well as the officers let's roll in 3 21 the NYPD has brought in world renowned Jiu-Jitsu coach Henner Gracie to teach about two dozen officers his new method for restraining a non-complying suspect even if they're armed there's no joint lock no pressure point no choke hold and no compression of the lungs or diaphragm so it's the safest method of two-on-one restraint that has ever existed in law enforcement from safe I have full control of everything Gracie calls the method safe wrap for the way he wraps the limbs while a suspect is on their side as opposed to the conventional police method of holding someone with their chest to the ground there have been some restrictions put on the officers with diaphragm compression and compression to the neck so we're trying to utilize different techniques that will not compromise anyone's breathing at all NYPD officers are banned from using choke holds under the Eric Garner anti-choke hold act and yet the number of complaints against officers using choke holds have steadily increased over the past four years according to the Department's Watchdog agency trainers say this new method could make arrest safer for suspects and police and it's our hope that with the safe W system cops will get better trained and more effective in their use of force more reasonable in their use of force so that over time we can repair the macro relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve and joining me now is CBS News New York's Ali Balman very intense there Ally they're really really into it I'm most curious about what the everyday officers you spoke with what do they think about this they most of the officers that were there they think it's great and a lot of the officers that were there are the Tactical trainers so they're the ones that are eventually going to be teaching the rest of the NYPD and the academy this new method of of Jiu-Jitsu that that they're inventing here and so they think that you know listen if it can make the police safer it can make the suspect safer and if it can prevent an officer from having to use a weapon then I think it's a good thing sure what about the community what do everyday people think about this as they talk about it and hear about it not many people know about it not many people know about it I think a lot of people are surprised to hear that the police do get trained in Jiu-Jitsu and the NYPD has been getting trained in Jiu-Jitsu for years as well as LAPD Chicago PD FBI CIA so which is surprising to learn it is surprising to Lear at least me I know I was I was surprised when I heard it I think most people are surprised when they hear it because you don't think of nyp officers in general getting trained in Jiu-Jitsu but they'll say listen if it's a method to restrain someone use your body to restrain someone instead of using a gun instead of using a taser so they've been getting trained in in Jiu-Jitsu for for years and so of other police departments this method as you heard in the story this method's different because the conventional training of of both Jiu-Jitsu and police departments across the country has been when a suspects not complying you put them on their stomach on their chest and put their hands behind their back that way but as we've seen unfortunately time and time again that can restrict someone's breathing as with with um George Floyd he was on his stomach in that sense it can restrict the diaphrag and cause injuries and cause cause TR trouble breathing so this method where it puts them on their side the hope is that it will save some lives here so this is a training session what's the next step as far as the police department is concerned in New York so right now the trainers are getting trained and then they'll be training the police academy those new recruits that are coming in as well as over the next couple years training and retraining the officers uh who are currently in the field and on the force you have a front row seat to Crime and Punishment in New York City on a daily basis unfortunately right do you have a sense that this is going to work I think we're going to wait and see because right now the NYPD is the first police department to get this type of training and where this was originated from with Grace University this this Jiu-Jitsu coaching and and training uh organization they actually developed it for medical professionals they actually developed it for hospitals they first developed it for UC Irvine Medical Center in California because as he was telling me they wanted a way that when they had who's mentally ill or or going through some kind of episode and they needed to restrain them in a hospital setting even more it's more important to not hurt the person as you're trying to restrain them and not harm the people around them that he developed this for them they still use that there and now he is seeing and trying to incorporate more police departments to use it you can only hope to keep these interactions the temperature down hopefully ultimately Alibama thank you really really fascinating great stuff we want to take a critical look at this training and the reality of implementing it so we've asked Felipe Rodriguez professor of at John J College of Criminal Justice in New York City to join the conversation Professor thanks for joining us so I was surprised to learn that this has been going on at least some level of Jiu-Jitsu training has been going on in police departments not just in New York but across the country for years as we watch this level of training what are your thoughts on its Effectiveness and the the implementing it going forward well I I think it's a great step forward uh you know I was in EMT for numerous years and it's true if we look at it from a medical perspective while we are arresting a person we have to be careful that we're not you know putting undue pressure on the abdomen or the intercostal muscles and you know it's a great step forward it's something that was needed and but the fact that they've had this in their sort of toolkit for years and have they been using it to the extent that they could have been and how is this going to change their approach on the street for everyday officers well there was something now that that was focused like I said totally different more on a medical issue and what we're doing now is actually saving people's lives before we were trained to use either an arm bar or pressure point and try to restrain the person and then we would basically use our own body weight on the person's you know back forcing the ab ABD abdomen and the other intercostal muscles to kind of slow down to give us a chance to handcuff them and what we were seeing was due to either medical issues or just obesity in general you know what we were having a difficult time time and it was causing deaths so we've taken a step back we've refocused and what we're doing now we're implementing more tools in the tool belt the thing is this training has to be continuous and that could be an issue later on for sure do you see any downsides to this level of training no anything at all that a police officer could use where the utmost you know concern is an individual safety is always great training to have but we have to be dedicated you know they call it martial arts for you have to dedicate time and sometimes you know what we're not getting enough training and it's being shown by the interactions that the officers are having there are people in communities around the country who feel that officers you know are are more aggressive than they could be or should be do you feel like this has a potential to bridge that Gap it it it has to because at at the end of the day now the person feels you know what he did arrest me but there was no excessive force and I was treated in a more Humane manner the use of force is nothing it's actually not pretty right we see it on movies and everything else but physical violence doesn't when we see it in reality doesn't always look good yeah and now we have other tools where we could use it so we don't have to get to that scale or that level of escalation I guess what I'm getting at is there's a certain mentality among some officers that's aggressive right does this kind of training have a shot at tamping that down and changing the culture at least from that standpoint well well it does cuz now we have officers that you know what they won't Panic you know and they won't just turn turned to what you know that whole Brute Force incident or the the brute force of just using it to survive and now we're giving him the tools where we're building it into what we say muscle memory so now the moment that something escalates we know how to react in a more professional manner okay we'll be watching to see how this works out as uh it makes its way through police departments hopefully across the country Professor Felipe Rodriguez thank you so much for your Insight and CBS News New York will continue to follow the policing efforts of the NYPD for more on that you can visit our website and Focus we be right back it's more than just a game of baseball how this unique league is uniting players from across Latin America and helping them create a new home in the [Music] US for many immigrants adapting to life in a new country comes with many challenges among them finding a sense of community and belonging and across Sports fields in North Texas immigrants from across Latin America are using their love of baseball to do just that CBS News Texas's Ken molestina shows us a real life Field of Dreams this is Latino am the bball the Latin American Baseball League and on game days it's a scene not too different from the reality of what migrant communities look like all over the US here more than 10 teams representing countries like Venezuela Nicaragua Cuba and other Latin American countries come together every player wears her country's colors says daring hovi he's team Venezuela's manager and the league vice president he immigrated here nine years ago to the DFW area but tells me most other players have been in country for less than two years and all of their immigration status vary what is it that brings everybody together what is it that you have in common it's the love of baseball says HOV back in our countries it begins when we're young why did you think it was important to form a sense of community for these migrants through baseball I do it because most of them were here alone in this country he tells me without family and they've just arrived do you miss your country do you miss home see of course says Cuban national Adriano bores they've opened the door for me in helping me find work social communities and even learning the culture while playing together brings them all a sense of community they can't help but miss those they've Left Behind almost all of them say it's family and it's their friends they miss most what is your dream he says his dream is to have his entire family here living together in Freedom that dream may be out of reach for some especially with so many changing laws and policies for migrants and those who are seeking a Asylum here in the US it's a worry that isn't lost on them Adriano says he doesn't fear for himself much but he does for his friends who are here under complicated immigration statuses that could ultimately have them deported when it's all said and done it's a reality that is constantly looming for so many of these players but one that at least for nine innings on a Sunday can be forgotten on this field this is a Field of Dreams A real one no yes it is he says because we've all dreamed of coming to this country living here and playing baseball Ken molestina CBS News carolon Texas Sports is the great uniter League administrators say they have an additional 10 teams waiting to join the League as soon as the season is over further proving just how quickly migrant communities continue to grow thank you so much for watching this episode of InFocus featuring the work of our colleagues from across the country at local CBS news stations we have more than 5,000 people many of them behind the scenes living and working in the cities you care about around the country and in your community CBS News puts the stories that matter in Focus until next time I'm Maurice duah [Music]

2024-08-19 00:54

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