East Baton Rouge Parish Puts Peace Over Everything When Improving Public Safety

Leaders in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, are working together with community partners to take an ecosystem approach to addressing violence and make their community safer.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Policing, Public Safety, Race and Criminal Justice, Racial Equity and Community-Informed Policies, State and Local Policy +4 More

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Gaby Blanco

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Rafael Medina

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Peter Gordon

Senior Director, Government Affairs

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East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, is taking a new approach to public safety. Recognizing that law enforcement cannot deliver public safety on its own, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome is making a real difference by bringing together government, law enforcement officials, and community organizations. In September 2020, she launched the Safe Hopeful Healthy Initiative, which works in partnership with community organizations to address the drivers of crime and violence and center a “culture of health” in policy and practice changes.

East Baton Rouge Parish is working to move past distrust between police and the communities they serve, to heal from trauma, and to bring a greater sense of safety to the city. The mantra of the initiative is “peace over everything.”

This video was produced in partnership with the National League of Cities’ Reimagining Public Safety initiative.

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Authors

Rachael Eisenberg

Former Managing Director, Rights and Justice

Arnitta R. Holliman

Former Director, Gun Violence Prevention

Video producers

Matthew Gossage

Former Events Video Producer

Hai-Lam Phan

Managing Director, Creative

Team

Public Safety

Protecting people from crime is one of the government’s most fundamental and urgent responsibilities. However, the current reality is that too many crimes go unsolved and too many victims lack justice. The Center for American Progress is committed to advancing evidence-based policies that keep individuals safe by solving crime when it happens, ensuring swift and certain accountability for those who harm others, and preventing crime in the first place.