Resources

This memo briefly explains why crime rates are a poor way to evaluate safety, then makes a case for developing a new metric that more holistically and comprehensively assesses how safe a community is—a project that will require not only identifying data sources, but also interrogating conceptually what “safety” should include. The memo closes by sketching a proposed framework that could guide a project of metric development.

Community safety is about advancing safety goals not by addressing symptoms or intervening far too late, but through evidence-based investments that prevent violence and harm upfront. This framework builds on what these “social determinants of safety” are—and how addressing them can make all of our communities truly safe.

Building from insights in health, the “social determinants of safety” (SDOS) are the underlying
social and structural conditions that drive both safety outcomes and contact with the criminal-legal
system. As a framework,  the accompanying approach involves identifying safety needs and
implementing evidence-based solutions that address these underlying issues before violence and
harm occur.

This brief, “A new community safety blueprint: How the federal government can address violence and harm through a public health approach,” is designed to help federal lawmakers harness key insights into the Social Determinants of Safety, specifically by outlining a multi-disciplinary, evidence-based policy agenda that prioritizes upstream interventions to advance community safety.

This guide explains how state and local lawmakers can use the American Rescue Plan Act to fund community safety programs.

This guide explains how state and local lawmakers can use the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to fund community safety projects.

This issue brief presents policy recommendations on how evidence-based investments can best keep youth and communities safe.

This brief examines non-carceral solutions for retail theft — while dispelling myths about is and is not happening nationwide.

This co-authored guide explains how local lawmakers can begin implementing community safety programs and policies.

This co-authored guide explains explains how local lawmakers can begin implementing community safety programs and policies.

This guide explains how state and local lawmakers can use the American Rescue Plan Act to fund community safety programs.