In the news

A quick look at news stories this week featuring Bloomberg Cities’ programs and partners.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has given her city’s Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded Innovation Team (i-team) its first assignment: Figuring out how to improve police recruitment and retention. This assignment fits into Pugh’s overall plan for the i-team, which focusses on public-safety issues. “Their focus is on violence reduction,” the mayor said. (The Baltimore Sun)

Earlier this week, the Center for Digital Government presented the Best of California Awards during the California Technology Forum. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Innovation Team (i-team) was honored with two winning initiatives, the Los Angeles Business Portal and the Los Angeles Indices of Neighborhood Change and Displacement Pressure. (GovTech)

Newark Downtown District (NDD) in Newark, N.J., is piloting a rain barrel program as part of Cities of Service’s Prepared Together initiative. NDD will distribute rain barrels, which can stop runoff pollution and protect a home’s foundation, to property owners and renters that sign up. As part of the installation, NDD will also show recipients how to maintain and winterize the rain barrels. (Brick City Live)

Scotsdale, Ariz., launched a new open data portal offering public access to city datasets, ranging from map-based data like street centerlines to police and fire calls, among other things. (Arizona Daily Independent)

How can your city implement an open-data policy? The Sunlight Foundation provides 31 guidelines that are categorized into three main areas with examples for each: what data should be public, how to make data public, and how to implement policy. (Smart Cities Dive)