A Blueprint for Community-Centered Public Safety
Policing, prosecution, and prisons have not made our country safer. In fact, they have the opposite effect, especially in Black and Brown communities, by inflicting harm through punishment.
That’s why the movement to put community at the center of public safety is gaining powerful momentum. It succeeds because it asks the people of that community what they need to be safe.
At the center of this movement is this truth: safety is not just the absence of violence. A community is safe when it is thriving and the well-being of its people is on the rise. That means ensuring that people have good jobs, quality housing, access to every facet of health care, excellent education, and more.
This is happening in Newark, NJ, a city in resurgence. Behind the committed, groundbreaking vision of Mayor Ras J. Baraka and a strong coalition of grassroots leaders and organizations, the city is a national model for community-centered public safety.
We worked with the city, the Newark Community Street Team, and other partners to tell the story of this model: how it came to be, what kind of ingredients went into building an ecosystem, and where that model might go one day.
Read all about The Future of Public Safety and learn how you can get involved.