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.

Person holding a sign that says "together we stand" with blue JSR overlay that reads "reframing public safety"

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

School Resource Officer standing in an empty school hallway

Invest in Students and Support, Not Police in Schools

Highlighting the problem with police in schools and what reimagining school safety involves.

Learn More about Reimagining School Safety
Two African American women lovingly embracing their toddler son

Improving Reentry Keeps Us Safe

How creating a system focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment can reduce recidivism and improve public safety.

Learn More about Improving Reentry
Safe Return: North Carolina's Experience with Bringing People Home Early form Prison report spread with cover and two spreads showing report content over blue gradient background

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.

Learn More about Safe Returns
Paper that says "Criminal record expungement" with a gavel and book on either side.

Clearing Criminal Records Improves Public Safety

How clearing old arrest and conviction records gives individuals a second chance to rebuild their lives.

Learn More about Clearing Criminal Records
Outside of a prison with blue duotone and a decorative yellow circle in the background

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.

Learn More about Ending the Death Penalty
A wire fence in the background with a newspaper collaged to the right to show a connection between media narratives and public perception of safety

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.

Learn More about Crime & Safety

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