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Dear John,
The Sentencing Project released a report [[link removed]] outlining five social interventions that can be implemented by U.S. policymakers and community members to improve public safety without increasing the reliance on mass incarceration. The report, “ Ending Mass Incarceration: Safety Beyond Sentencing [[link removed]] ,” offers recommendations that hold promise for making the country’s communities both safer and more equitable.
The five social interventions include:
1.
Implementing
community-based
safety
solutions
:
Community-based
interventions
could
help
decrease
violence
without
incarceration.
Such
interventions
include
violence
interruption
programs
that
identify
and
treat
people
most
at
risk
of
violence,
detect
and
interrupt
conflicts,
and
work
to
change
social
norms,
as
well
as
changes
to
the
built
environment,
like
adding
green
spaces,
cleaning
up
vacant
lots,
and
improving
street
lighting.


2.
Transforming
crisis
response
:
Reliance
on
police
to
address
the
needs
of
all
crisis
situations,
including
responding
to
people
with
mental
health
emergencies,
is
ineffective
and
dangerous.
Investments
in
trained
community-based
responders
with
expertise
in
public
health
approaches
have
the
potential
to
reduce
police
shootings,
improve
safety,
and
decrease
incarceration.


3.
Reducing
unnecessary
justice
involvement
:
Ending
unnecessary
police
contact
and
court
involvement
by
decriminalizing
certain
non-public
safety
offenses
(e.g.
loitering)
and
implementing
strategies
that
avoid
formal
arrest
or
prosecution
(i.e.
diversion
programs)
can
improve
safety.


4.
Ending
the
drug
war
:
Shifting
away
from
criminalizing
people
who
use
drugs
toward
public
health
solutions
can
improve
public
health
and
safety.
Improving
access
to
harm
reduction
services,
such
as
needle
exchanges
and
offering
places
where
people
can
use
drugs
in
a
community
setting
to
prevent
overdoses
(i.e.
supervised
consumption
sites),
can
reduce
other
negative
outcomes
of
drug
use.


5.
Strengthening
opportunities
for
youth:
Interventions
like
summer
employment
opportunities
and
training
youth
in
effective
decision-making
skills
are
promising
means
of
preventing
criminal
legal
involvement.
With 2023 marking 50 years of mass incarceration in the U.S., there’s a clear need to reimagine our public safety infrastructure. Research shows these interventions are more effective at reducing crime and improving public safety, more cost-effective, and more equitable than punitive responses that rely on over-policing and mass incarceration. This country has a powerful opportunity to expand on programs that improve safety while scaling back incarceration.
Read the Report [[link removed]]
Liz Komar, The Sentencing Project's Sentencing Reform Counsel [[link removed]] Liz Komar
Sentencing Reform Counsel
Email: [email protected] [[email protected]]
[[link removed]]
The title for this campaign, 50 Years and a Wake Up: Ending the Mass Incarceration Crisis In America, was born out of a colloquial phrase that incarcerated people sometimes use to describe the length of their sentence, plus one day (e.g. “I have 20 years and a wake up”).
Donate [[link removed]]
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United States
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