NYU LAW’S POLICING PROJECT REIMAGINES PUBLIC SAFETY WITH FIVE MAJOR U.S. CITIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 06, 2022

Contact: Joshua Manson, joshua.manson@nyu.edu, (914) 357-0000

NEW YORK, NY — The Policing Project at New York University School of Law today launched Reimagining Public Safety (RPS), an initiative to end the overuse of police as the one-size-fits-all response to community needs. RPS is working in Denver, San Francisco, Tucson, Chicago, and Minneapolis to conduct in-depth research about community safety concerns, and it is producing a framework for alternative response that better addresses the reasons community members call 911.    

“We often say that people call the police, but that’s not right. They call 911 and we send the police,” said Barry Friedman, co-founder of the Policing Project at New York University School of Law. “People call 911 when they are experiencing a crisis, or a problem they cannot solve on their own. That can be helping a loved one in crisis or a loud neighbor. For many of these problems, police are not trained to address the underlying issue, and often don’t. We just send the police because that’s who is available. This squanders limited law enforcement time and resources. It brings police into a situation that has the potential to escalate into criminalization and violence — especially in Black communities and other communities of color.  And it leaves the underlying problem unsolved, which often leads to repeat calls to 911. It is time to embrace real, long-term community-driven solutions that address the roots of these problems.”

“Public safety is an ecosystem, comprised of law enforcement, public health, violence prevention efforts, and economic investment alike,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “I am proud of the work we’ve done in Chicago to re-think our emergency responses to address community safety needs and the root causes of violence, while also strengthening our commitment to constitutional policing. My highest priority as Mayor is to create safe and healthy communities and I am grateful for partners like NYU who help to make this happen.”

"For decades, our country has ignored systemic issues rooted in our criminal justice system, slowing any progress towards policing reform needed in response to community needs. We cannot improve public safety for all of us by asking police officers to be the singular solution to all of society's problems," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "In San Francisco, our innovative alternatives to a police response, such as our Street Crisis Response Team which provides a medical and unarmed response to behavioral health crises instead of a police response, shows what can be accomplished when we work in collaboration across disciplines, including the police. Working with the NYU Policing Project we can take our work, build on it to continue to improve, and set a new standard for the rest of the nation to follow."

"As Mayor of Stockton, California, I saw firsthand that public safety is a community effort," said RPS Advisory Board member Michael Tubbs, who is currently Special Advisor for Economic Mobility and Opportunity to California Governor Gavin Newsom and formerly the Mayor of Stockton, California. "For a community of any size to thrive, it requires investment in more than just law enforcement. When we address the root causes of violence, as RPS does, then we can build a long-lasting public safety that addresses real community needs."

"When police officers are expected to respond to all emergency and community needs, everyone is at a disadvantage,” said RPS Advisory Board member Kathleen O'Toole, who is the former Chief of the Seattle Police Department and former Commissioner of the Boston Police Department. “In reality, a small percentage of 911 calls relate to violent crime. The majority are calls to assist vulnerable community members. Thoughtful, multi-disciplinary approaches to emergency response are required to provide the most effective services and to enhance community safety."

"Police cannot be the answer to every problem," said RPS Advisory Board member Darius Baxter, who is President and CEO of GOODProjects. "No matter the situation, law enforcement get involved. Instead of investing in our health and education, we get more police officers on our streets. We all agree that police are asked to do too much, so why do we continue to use police as a one-size-fits-all solution?"

“The Denver Department of Safety is committed to fostering a system that sends the right response to calls for service in Denver,” said Denver Executive Director of Safety Armando Saldate. “We are proud of our alternative response programs and will continue to integrate our responses to provide the best resource for our community members and visitors when they call 911. We look forward to sharing what we have created and learning how we can better deliver services to our communities through this initiative.”

RPS seeks to realign public safety services to address underlying community needs and reduce reliance on police for a range of issues that do not require or necessarily benefit from a law enforcement response. By partnering with community leaders, advocates, lawmakers, researchers, 911 dispatchers, social service professionals, and police across the country, RPS is creating a blueprint for how governments and communities can collaboratively support strong, safe, healthy, and thriving communities.

Those resources can be accessed starting today through the new web resource, SafetyReimagined.org. The heart of the website is “Learn With Us,” which contains a host of resources for communities large and small that wish to pursue alternative response, including information on how to start the reimagining process; briefs on issues such as noise complaints, traffic incidents, and welfare checks; and papers addressing key decision points like 24/7 service and financing.

The organization is building a community of practice with community leaders nationwide so that they, too, can reimagine public safety in their communities. The Policing Project will be sharing lessons learned on a rolling basis at SafetyReimagined.org.

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