Center for American Progress

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Rights and Justice

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.

People march for the third day since the release of the grand jury report on the death of Breonna Taylor on September 26, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Getty/Michael M. Santiago)

What We're Doing

Delivering accountability

We advocate for policies that strengthen law enforcement’s capacity to solve crimes, deliver swift and certain justice, and increase public trust.

Recruiting additional first responders

We are calling for increased investments in community responder models and other programs that deploy specially trained professionals as first responders in behavioral health and quality-of-life emergencies to prevent escalation and reduce the burden on police by giving them more time to focus on deterring and solving crime.

Preventing gun violence

We can save lives by strengthening gun laws, holding the gun industry accountable, preventing gun trafficking, and increasing investments in community violence intervention programs.

Increasing accountability for police policy and practice

Everyone deserves to be protected from crime and violence—without sacrificing their civil liberties, their privacy, or the rule of law. We are fighting to ensure law enforcement at every level maintains high standards and strong safeguards against practices that violate civil liberties.

The Public Safety team focuses on developing policies to shrink the justice system’s footprint, improve public health and safety, prevent gun violence, and promote equity and accountability.

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What City Leaders Say Is Helping Drive Down Gun Violence in Their Communities Report
A group of people stand gathered at a march to denounce gun violence. A man in the foreground raises his fist in the air.

What City Leaders Say Is Helping Drive Down Gun Violence in Their Communities

Estimates suggest that 2025 marked another historic year of declining gun violence nationwide since the COVID-era surge. Here is what officials from cities seeing the largest declines in gun violence are saying about how they have improved public safety since 2021.

Chandler Hall

Gun Violence in Rural America Is the Forgotten Public Health Epidemic Report
Silhouetted student in classroom beneath American flag

Gun Violence in Rural America Is the Forgotten Public Health Epidemic

Rural American communities are facing a growing crisis involving gun homicides and suicides that has long been ignored as narratives around gun violence have disproportionately and unjustly focused on urban communities.

Chandler Hall

Delivering Accountability: Stopping Crime in Our Communities Past Event
The statue titled

Delivering Accountability: Stopping Crime in Our Communities

Join the Center for American Progress for a panel discussion on stopping crime with Mayors Jane Castor (Tampa) and Brandon Scott (Baltimore), as well as Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, moderated by CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden.

Center for American Progress & Online | 1333 H St. NW Washington DC 20005

Community Violence Intervention: Maiya Shackelford Shares Heartfelt Story of 1 Gunshot Survivor’s Journey to Thriving Video

Community Violence Intervention: Maiya Shackelford Shares Heartfelt Story of 1 Gunshot Survivor’s Journey to Thriving

Maiya Shackelford shares how coaches at the community violence intervention program READI Chicago support program participants to rebuild and have autonomy over their lives.

Chandler Hall, Nick Wilson, Olivia Mowry, 1 More Hai-Lam Phan

‘Pieces of the Puzzle’: A Reel Progress Film Screening Past Event

‘Pieces of the Puzzle’: A Reel Progress Film Screening

Join the Center for American Progress for a Reel Progress screening of "Pieces of the Puzzle."

Center for American Progress (in-person only) 1333 H St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005

11th National Gun Violence Prevention Summit Past Event

11th National Gun Violence Prevention Summit

Join CAP for a summit featuring speeches and discussions by leading advocates of the gun violence prevention movement.

Center for American Progress - Online

Fact Sheet: Expanding the Public Safety Workforce Fact Sheet
Social workers provide a man experiencing homelessness with resources in a local park in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Fact Sheet: Expanding the Public Safety Workforce

Cities across the country are investing in safety by incorporating specially trained professionals such as community responders and community violence intervention professionals into their local public safety workforces.

Allie Preston, Rachael Eisenberg, Kirby Gaherty

Expanding the Public Safety Workforce Report
Three people speaking, with two standing outside van and one sitting inside.

Expanding the Public Safety Workforce

Cities across the country are exploring innovative ways to incorporate new professionals, such as community responders and community violence intervention professionals, into their existing public safety workforces to improve outcomes for communities.

Allie Preston, Rachael Eisenberg, Kirby Gaherty

The Highest Rates of Gun Homicides Are in Rural Counties Fact Sheet
An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is held in front of a U.S. flag.

The Highest Rates of Gun Homicides Are in Rural Counties

Despite media attention on gun violence in large American cities, new analysis of CDC data shows that rural counties persistently have some of the highest rates of gun violence in the country.

Chandler Hall

Bipartisan Momentum Is Growing for Automatic Record Sealing Through the Clean Slate and Fresh Start Acts Article
The Capitol Building at sunset

Bipartisan Momentum Is Growing for Automatic Record Sealing Through the Clean Slate and Fresh Start Acts

Even after serving their time, millions of Americans carry an arrest or conviction record that makes it hard for them to access a second chance to rebuild their lives. Congress should pass automatic record-sealing legislation to unlock second chances, boost economic mobility, and improve public safety.

Akua Amaning

Hope After Harm: Reimagining Victim Compensation Past Event

Hope After Harm: Reimagining Victim Compensation

Join the Center for American Progress for an event discussing CAP and Common Justice’s partnered launch of the “State Victim Compensation Statute Rubric.”

Center for American Progress Online

Executive Summary: Hope After Harm Article
Police officers are seen behind a yellow line of caution tape on a street with cars parked on either side.

Executive Summary: Hope After Harm

A state-by-state analysis of victim compensation statutes reveals tremendous potential for states to better meet the needs of survivors of violence and to ultimately break cycles of harm.

Chandler Hall, Alice Hamblett

Resumen ejecutivo: Esperanza después del daño Artículo
Police officers are seen behind a yellow line of caution tape on a street with cars parked on either side.

Resumen ejecutivo: Esperanza después del daño

Un análisis estado por estado de las leyes de compensación para las víctimas revela un tremendo potencial para que los estados satisfagan mejor las necesidades de los sobrevivientes de la violencia y, en última instancia, rompan los ciclos de daño.

Chandler Hall, Alice Hamblett

Effective Public Safety Messaging Strategies for Local Leaders Past Event

Effective Public Safety Messaging Strategies for Local Leaders

Join the Center for American Progress for an event with public safety and communications leaders about effective messaging on public safety and challenges in communicating crime data to the public.

Center for American Progress | Online

International Program Demonstrates How Centering Human Dignity in Reentry Improves Public Safety Article

International Program Demonstrates How Centering Human Dignity in Reentry Improves Public Safety

In Brazil, a prison-based reentry program known as APAC centers human dignity in its efforts to reintegrate individuals fully back into society, serving as a model that U.S. leaders and policymakers alike should consider expanding to improve reentry and public safety outcomes.

Akua Amaning

COVID-19’s Impact on Gun Violence in America Report
A crowd of demonstrators is seen marching across the Brooklyn Bridge while the sun sets over the Manhattan skyline in the background.

COVID-19’s Impact on Gun Violence in America

Five years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, there are several theories surrounding why gun violence spiked in the United States during the pandemic’s first year.

Chandler Hall

Mexico’s Lawsuit To Hold U.S. Gun Manufacturers Accountable Will Affect Public Safety in Both Countries Article
The U.S.-Mexico border wall is seen stretching through sand dunes while the sun sets in the background.

Mexico’s Lawsuit To Hold U.S. Gun Manufacturers Accountable Will Affect Public Safety in Both Countries

The Supreme Court’s decision in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos will either hold U.S. gun manufacturers accountable for fueling gun violence in Mexico or empower an unchecked firearm industry to break the law without consequence.

Nick Wilson

Gun Violence Trends in US Cities During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic In the News

Gun Violence Trends in US Cities During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In a research letter published in JAMA Network Open, Chandler Hall and Nick Wilson of the Center for American Progress, along with Alex R. Piquero, examine whether there was variation in gun violence trends in U.S. cities during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

JAMA Network Open

Chandler Hall, Nick Wilson, Alex R. Piquero

6 Ways Cities and Counties Can Reduce Gun Violence Report
A row of houses is seen from above in Northern Baltimore, Maryland.

6 Ways Cities and Counties Can Reduce Gun Violence

Cities and counties across the country are taking meaningful steps toward reducing gun violence by implementing a set of accountability and prevention strategies capable of healing communities while breaking cycles of violence.

Allison Jordan

Progressive Prosecutors Were Not Responsible for Increases in Violent or Property Crime Before, During, or After the COVID-19 Pandemic Article

Progressive Prosecutors Were Not Responsible for Increases in Violent or Property Crime Before, During, or After the COVID-19 Pandemic

A newly released report finds no evidence that prosecutors of any type are responsible for increases in crimes in their jurisdictions, concluding instead that hyperlocal social, environmental, and economic conditions are much more likely to drive crime trends.

Lindsey McLendon

10th National Gun Violence Prevention Summit Past Event

10th National Gun Violence Prevention Summit

Join CAP for a summit featuring speeches and discussions by leading advocates of the gun violence prevention movement.

Center for American Progress

Sonya Massey’s Memory Should Spur Federal Action To Meaningfully Change Policing Article
Protesters gather in New York’s Washington Square Park on July 25, 2024.

Sonya Massey’s Memory Should Spur Federal Action To Meaningfully Change Policing

The killing of Sonya Massey at the hands of police should motivate federal policymakers to finally take action that will create real accountability and deliver lasting safety for people of color.

Rachael Eisenberg

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