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Public Safety

Everyone deserves to be safe where they live, regardless of race, wealth, health, ability, or background, and protecting this right is one of the most important responsibilities of government and community leaders. For too long, we have failed to achieve these public safety objectives. Most crimes go unsolved and the vast majority of crime survivors receive little to no assistance in their recovery, while those who are apprehended often cycle in and out of incarceration due to underlying challenges and circumstances that go unaddressed. Meanwhile, the kind of services and support that are very effective at preventing crime have long been underresourced. Decades of harsh and overly punitive policies have turned the United States into the most carceral nation in the world without generating durable safety. Instead, they have wreaked havoc on communities across the country, separating families, extracting wealth from the poorest communities, and creating devastating barriers for people with criminal records that keep second chances out of reach.

To build lasting public safety, we must change our emphasis from one of punishment to one of prevention. We must change the ways we hold people accountable to ensure people cannot harm others with impunity while delivering holistic and restorative outcomes that prevent future offending. Solutions should focus resources on the challenges of serious and violent crime, improving police-community relations, centering the people most harmed by both crime and incarceration, and empowering victims to repair their lives. Simultaneously, we must prioritize robust investment into the infrastructure, services, and built environment of communities that have been simultaneously subject to neglect, disinvestment, and overenforcement. Elected officials and community leaders across the country are incorporating these approaches to create a less harmful and more just path to public safety.

Related Teams
Criminal Justice Reform
Gun Violence Prevention

The Criminal Justice Reform team focuses on developing policies to shrink the justice system’s footprint, improve public health and safety, and promote equity and accountability.

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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

New York Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge Restoration Article
Pete Buttigieg is seen speaking behind a podium with construction workers in the background.

New York Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge Restoration

This investment provides funding to restore one of the most economically significant bridges in the country, currently in deep disrepair, so that it can remain in use for another 65 years.

CAP Joined by National Security and Gun Violence Prevention Advocates To Urge Congress To Protect Firearm Export Rule Article

CAP Joined by National Security and Gun Violence Prevention Advocates To Urge Congress To Protect Firearm Export Rule

The Center for American Progress, along with 34 organizations, authored a letter to Congress about protecting the Commerce Department’s firearm export rule, which will establish a new regulatory framework to protect U.S. national security interests.

Allison McManus, Nick Wilson, Laura Kilbury, 1 More Allison Jordan

In U.S. v. Rahimi, Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Domestic Violence Survivor Safety but Upholds Problematic Bruen Framework Article
Photo shows a Supreme Court building partly lit inside, against a dark blue sky

In U.S. v. Rahimi, Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Domestic Violence Survivor Safety but Upholds Problematic Bruen Framework

On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a sensible and effective gun violence prevention law protecting domestic violence survivors remains constitutional; however, the fact that survivor safety was compromised because of the politicization of the judiciary—and could be again in the future—should not be forgotten.

Sabrina Talukder, Nick Wilson

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