JUSTICE SYSTEM REFORM
How We Are Reframing Public Safety
Safety is a basic human need. Everybody deserves to be and feel safe.
But what actually keeps people safe? And whose safety is being prioritized? For too long, approaches to public safety have been driven by anecdotal, fact-free notions about crime and punishment. Too often, these notions are fueled by fear, panic, racism, and misinformation. The result is a deeply flawed, overly punitive, racist, anti-evidence approach that is not closely tied to policies that actually keep people safe or protect all communities fairly.
At Southern Coalition for Social Justice, we reject the argument that efforts to interrupt and change our current system somehow threatens public safety. It is not safety versus justice; that is a false choice.
We also reject the premise that these massive problems, which are deeply embedded within our existing systems, are unbreakable and unsolvable. In fact, solutions exist for keeping communities safe while respecting the dignity and rights of everyone.
Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Reframing Public Safety explores, interrogates, lifts up, and shares policies and practices that increase public safety, strike the right balance between accountability and repair, and center dignity, stability, and justice for all.
Reframing Public Safety Series
Invest in Students and Support, Not Police in Schools
Highlighting the problem with police in schools and what reimagining school safety involves.
Safe Return: NC’s Experience with Bringing People Home Early from Prison
This report analyzed “early” re-entry efforts to determine whether they can and should be continued.
End the Death Penalty
A look into why the Death Penalty is deeply connected with the South’s history of racial oppression and fails as a public policy.
Honest Conversations About Crime & Safety
This explainer is a quick look at how politics and media build and perpetuate myths about crime and safety, and offers alternatives that would serve true public safety.