Could Gun Regulations Reduce Police Shootings?
A study found that in states requiring permits to purchase firearms, fatal and nonfatal police shootings were 28 percent lower.
public safety
Chip Brownlee
How Parole Conditions Trapped Me in Homelessness
The severe restrictions I face while on supervision effectively serve as a ban on stable housing. The terms of this arrangement have left me technically homeless, forced to live in a motel.
Why the U.S. Marshals Spend Millions on Sex-Offense Registrant Sweeps
The real aim of these operations might be to boost support for cops.
To Understand Gun Violence, Talk to People in the Trenches
Mainstream discussions about gun violence have largely excluded the voices of survivors and perpetrators.
How These Cities Are Breaking Up the Work of Police Departments
As the country reassesses its relationship with law enforcement, Ithaca, New York; Berkeley and Oakland, California; and Austin, Texas, are defunding, replacing, or reducing the scope of their police departments.
Oakland Takes First Steps Toward Directing Some 911 Calls To Community Responders
It will be months before the pilot program is implemented in part of East Oakland, but activists say it’s a move in the right direction.
These Progressive Candidates Could Flip The Balance Of Power In St. Louis City Government
Four first-time candidates could grant progressives a majority on the Board of Alders and transform public safety and housing policy.
Activists Who Helped Elect Birmingham Mayor Balk at Police Expansion Plans
Mayor Randall Woodfin is increasing police funding and ignoring calls for non-law enforcement public safety alternatives.
Phoenix Wants To Shift Crisis Response Away From Police—While Also Increasing The Police Budget
The trial budget includes a proposal to expand a crisis response program under the fire department, but also includes a $3.7 million increase to the Phoenix Police Department’s $745 million budget.
A Florida Lawmaker Introduced Legislation to Remove Traffic Enforcement From Police
Cities across the country have begun exploring traffic enforcement without police. This bill proposes doing so statewide.
This Election Could Decide St. Louis’s Future
The four candidates vying to replace the mayor are each promising to build a better St. Louis, and in a little over a week, voters will decide which visions they endorse.
What Public Safety Without Police Looks Like
From San Francisco to Philadelphia, cities across the country are creating fully unarmed response teams to address emergencies that used to call for cops.
What ‘Defund The Police’ Means In A New York Neighborhood With High Homicide Rates and a History of Struggling for Justice
Although there’s a diversity of views about law enforcement in Brownsville, Brooklyn, there’s widespread agreement that the community is still fighting to obtain all the resources it needs to thrive and police itself.
Austin Cuts Its Police Budget by About A Third
The City Council passed a budget that cut nearly $150 million from the Austin Police Department. Millions will be reinvested in services like violence prevention and supportive housing.
Austin May Cut Police Budget by Nearly $150 Million
The City Council will pass a budget this week that could cut nearly $150 million in funding from the Austin Police Department. The proposal appears to have majority support.
Probation Conditions Relaxed During the Pandemic. Some Say They Should Stay That Way.
Public safety is not improved by stricter probation and parole rules, researchers have found.
Bail Reform Is About Safety And Well-Being
Kalief Browder’s death in 2015 and Layleen Polanco’s in 2019 are reminders that jail is the real threat to public safety.
Why Police Violence Is A Public Health Problem
“A public health approach neither accepts harm as a given nor accepts punishment as prevention.”
The Public Safety Myth
Law enforcement’s old guard claims that policing low-level crime protects communities. That’s not just wrong; it’s dangerous.