The Reimagining Public Safety Pledge is a call for mayors and local officials to invest in public safety strategies and programs that engage community partners to effectively address violence and crime and heal communities.
The Reimagine Public Safety Pledge is a partnership of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance), Cities United and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
All youth and young adults should be safe from violent crime. The Reimagine Public Safety Pledge is a call for mayors and local officials to invest in public safety strategies and programs that engage community partners to effectively address violence and crime in order to heal communities.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with support from the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and in partnership with Cities United and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, is committed to empowering, equipping, and supporting local officials who are working to rethink their approaches to public safety.
The Reimagine Public Safety Pledge partners call on local officials, who are uniquely positioned to introduce and fund community-driven public safety strategies, to commit to:
- Empowering Communities to Address Violence: Establish programs, policies, offices, and budgets that enable community partners to actively contribute to reducing violence and promoting neighborhood safety.
Examples: Establish and Offices of Neighborhood Safety/Violence Prevention and fund Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs.
- Investing in Off-Ramps from the Criminal Legal System: Fund strategies, programs, and services that address the underlying reasons that people and/or communities have high rates of contact with the criminal legal system.
Examples: Investments in programs that divert people from arrest and incarceration into mental health services, substance misuse treatment, or supportive housing.
- Investing in community health and well-being to prevent violence and crime: Invest in the strategies that support safe, healthy communities and address the root causes of violence and crime to ensure that all young Americans have the opportunities they need to reach their full potential, as outlined in the MBK Six Milestones.
Examples: Investments in programs proven to improve public safety (e.g., youth employment, blight remediation) and programs that promote racial healing (e.g., racial reconciliation between law enforcement and the communities they serve).
Everyone can support this effort. If you are a community member, use your voice.
TAKE THE PLEDGE
By taking the Reimagine Public Safety Pledge, local officials will gain access to workshops with technical assistance from experts in the key areas of the pledge.
If you have questions about the Reimagine Public Safety Pledge, please reach out to ReimaginePublicSafety@jjay.cuny.edu.
THE PROGRESS SO FAR
The Reimagine Public Safety pledge builds Milestone 6 of the MBK Alliance and on John Jay’s Future of Public Safety Initiative – an effort launched in the Fall of 2020 that invited law enforcement and elected officials to reimagine the future of public safety and redefine the role of policing in America today. It also builds on the work of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to promote a just, inclusive, and fair democracy and the work of Cities United to build a movement of cities, community organizations, public safety advocates, and young leaders to create safe, healthy, and hopeful communities.
More information about the Future of Public Safety initiative, including the panel discussions and resources can be found here.
WORKSHOPS
We are committed to supporting local officials and their teams through a series of workshops focused on providing educational tools and analysis on a range of community-centered public safety strategies and tools.
Each workshop is supplemented with curated resource materials, information on organizations that can provide additional support, and opportunities to engage in deeper discussions with local and national experts.
Workshop Topics
Empowering Communities to Address Safety
Workshop 1: Key Elements of Successful Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Programs to Address Gun Violence
Workshop 2: Institutionalizing Community Violence Intervention through Offices of Neighborhood Safety and Gun Violence Prevention
Creating Off-Ramps from the Criminal Legal System
Workshop 1: Transforming the Response to Community Calls for Help
Workshop 2: Diverting People and Funding into Communities
Transforming and Healing Communities
Workshop 1: Investing in Mental Health to Support Public Safety
Workshop 2: Racial Reconciliation to Heal Communities and Support Public Safety
RESOURCE HUB
Our Resource Hub provides information on research, funding and guidance related to the three focus areas for the Reimagine Public Safety Pledge. If you have questions about these materials, please reach out to the John Jay College team at ReimaginePublicSafety@jjay.cuny.edu.
National Network of Safe Communities Report on Reconciliation between Police and Communities
John Jay Research & Evaluation Center Review of research evidence on Reducing Violence without Police
National League of Cities Report on A Path Toward Safe and Equitable Communities
Cities United Guide to investing in Safe, Healthy and Hopeful Communities
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Report on a New Era of Public Safety
The Reimagine Public Safety Pledge is an initiative of John Jay College of Criminal Justice with support from the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and in partnership with Cities United and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.