How softer non-policing strategies might help

On a basketball court just north of Atlanta’s city centre, on a hot summer’s day in July, Ricky Usher (generally known as Dip) is busy organising his charges. Several teams from around the city are lined up; a sound system blasts out music; groups of teenagers of both sexes sit on stands consuming burgers and tins of sugary pop. Dip, a large man with a gold tooth, who coaches the home side, roams between the young men and teenagers passing out advice and blue t-shirts advertising Atlanta Teen Leaders, the city-funded after-school programme.