Advancing Community Safety and Justice
USC works to address safety & justice by strengthening the foundations for healthy communities to assure equity in education and economic opportunity, especially for neighborhoods impacted by poverty and racism. We recognize that safety requires broader solutions than carceral responses.
There can only be safe communities with just and robust neighborhoods with opportunities for everyone to thrive. USC works to address community safety & justice by:
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Advocating for equity through reallocating public resources and refocusing public systems on creating vibrant communities (“justice reinvestment”).
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Focusing on violence interruption and prevention, alternative emergency response, strengthening communities with resources and supports, and criminal justice restorative reforms.
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Developing innovative strategies for “re-imagining” policing in communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration and law enforcement abuse of power.
Policy Innovation and Advocacy
The Council helps to develop governmental structural innovations in practice and policy. The Council supports analysis of current policies, including impacts, while uplifting voices and leadership from impacted communities. We center social and economic justice while recognizing and addressing disparities and systemic barriers. The Council uses data, research, and evaluation to support advocacy.
Subject areas we engage in include violence interruption, substance use disorder, police reform, alternative emergency response, youth development, educational opportunities, environmental justice, and land use policy.
