ProGov21 Policy Library

Policing + Transit

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Transit Center

Policy Areas Public Safety, Transportation & Mobility

Many transit agencies apply an overly punitive approach to minor transgressions. For example, this report argues that current methods of fare enforcement are too harsh. Fare evasion should be decriminalized, and the penalties should be made proportional to the severity of offense....

An Organizer’s Guide to Confront Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools in Decarceration Campaigns

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights

Risk assessment tools (RATs) are decision-making rubrics that make predictions; they utilize a multitude of tools to make predictions about a defendant’s statistical likelihood, or “risk,” of not returning to court or being rearrested if released. Ultimately, RATs greatly influence...

A Social Media Toolkit: For Organizing and Advocacy to End Mass Criminalization and Incarceration

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety

Storytelling on social media has become a powerful tool to shift public narratives in the movement to end mass criminalization. However, if misused, improper storytelling runs the risk of perpetuating narratives that reinforce, rather than work to dismantle, the criminal justice system....

Same Day Voter Registration Prohibition

Type Act or Session Law

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) Arizona

Source State of Arizona House of Representatives

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance

Arizona's House Bill 2237 prohibits same-day voter registration in Arizona, barring any state agency or representative from registering voters on election day and allowing them to vote. The prohibition is aimed at maintaining election integrity, and violations are classified as a...

Reducing & Preventing Violent Crime

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level National

State(s) All States

Source Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Policy Areas Public Safety

Despite a steady decline in violent crime over the last 30 years, its impact continues to persist in American communities. This report calls for forward-thinking approaches, including adopting a public health perspective to target violence, addressing root causes like poverty and...

2017 Columbus Executive Order Declaring Sanctuary Status

Type Executive Order

Year 2017

Level City or Town

State(s) Ohio

Source Mayor of the City of Columbus

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Public Safety, Civil Rights

This executive order protects people without documentation from deportation and expands immigration protection services....

Saving Lives: Ten Essential Actions Cities Can Take to Reduce Violence Now

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Council on Criminal Justice

Policy Areas Public Safety

This report argues that city leaders should aim for a 10% annual reduction in homicides and non-fatal shootings by identifying key individuals and locations driving violence and creating comprehensive citywide engagement plans. Solutions must include place-based policing, investments...

Step-by-Step Guide to Drafting Your Own Community Safety Policy at the State Level

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Civil Rights Corps

Policy Areas Community Development, Public Safety

A Community Safety Policy is a policy agenda that shifts the concept of “safety” from a primarily criminal-legal model to a new framework that roots safety in public health and makes investments in non-carceral solutions. This guide outlines four steps states can take to create their...

Evaluation of CeaseFire-Chicago

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2008

Level City or Town

State(s) Illinois

Source U.S. Department of Justice

Policy Areas Community Development, Public Safety

The U.S Department of Justice recommends that the city of Chicago implement the CeaseFire program, which focuses on changing the behavior of individuals at high risk of being involved in shootings through the use of violence interrupters and outreach workers. The program's strategies...

Community Voices: Barriers to Voting For California's Formerly Incarcerated

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2015

Level Other Boards and Agencies

State(s) California

Source The Greenlining Institute

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance

In addition to disenfranchising people through law and policy, felony disenfranchisement laws create additional barriers to voting. The complexity of these laws and a lack of awareness about them have caused confusion and misinformation among formerly incarcerated communities as well...

Preventing and Mitigating Police-Involved Violence

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source State Innovation Exchange

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance, Housing, Public Safety, Public Safety, Civil Rights

Alarming rates of police brutality and abuse of power persist across U.S. cities and states, with 987 people shot and killed by law enforcement officers in 2017 alone. Victims of police-involved violence are disproportionately people of color, and a quarter of victims struggle with...

Kids Soar with Early Education Investments in Oregon

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) Oregon

Source Council for a Strong America

Policy Areas Children & Families, Education, Public Safety

One of the most effective ways to prevent crime is to provide children with the parental support and programs needed to be successful, productive members of society. This report discusses four steps Oregon policymakers should take to support children's success and improve public safety:...

An Overview of Homeless Encampments for City Leaders

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source National League of Cities

Policy Areas Health, Housing, Public Safety

The growth of homeless encampments across the country reflects systemic failures, including a lack of affordable housing, insufficient shelter options, and punitive policies that criminalize homelessness. Encampments, while often criticized, provide some individuals with a sense of...

Selective Celling: Inmate Population in Ohio’s Private Prisons

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2001

Level City or Town, State

State(s) Ohio

Source Policy Matters Ohio

Policy Areas Civil Rights

This report discusses relevant research on prison privatization and presents concerns regarding the expansion of prison privatization across Ohio. The report also features three case studies which highlight some glaring issues with the implementation of private prisons in the state,...

Community Bail Funds as an Organizing Tool: A Primer for Exploring the Tactic

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2019

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development

This document is intended for organizers, legal advocates, and organizations contemplating starting a bail fund as an intervention in the criminal legal and/or immigration detention systems. The first part of the document poses core exploratory questions to consider before starting...

2) 2023 New York City Ordinance 1252 Establishing a Task Force Addressing Housing for Incarcerated Transgender Individuals

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2023

Level City or Town

State(s) New York

Source City of New York

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Economic Justice, Housing

Transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex individuals often face uninformed or discriminatory practices at the hands of public institutions. This ordinance establishes a task force to address policies related to the treatment of current or formerly incarcerated individuals within...

Ending the Criminalization of Failure-to-Appear: An Organizers’ Guide to Demanding Court Changes in the Time of COVID-19

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights

Before COVID-19 became a global pandemic, missing a court date, a check-in with parole or probation, a day of community service, or a court-mandated treatment program could and frequently did result in people being jailed. However, during the early days of the pandemic, most states...

Preventing Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2018

Level County

State(s) All States

Source SiX Action

Policy Areas Housing, Public Safety, Health, Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Education, Children & Families

Sexual assault is an intensely personal, devastating crime with far-reaching impacts in our communities. It is common, destructive, and nobody should be traumatized by navigating their next steps for safety and healing. One in five women will experience sexual assault while in college,...

Decarceration During COVID-19: A Messaging Toolkit for Campaigns for Mass Release

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Health

Incarcerated people in the United States’ jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers are at an unacceptable risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. This document provides some guidance and tools for families, organizers, and advocates who are demanding their decarceration...

Analyzing the Impact of Baltimore’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy in the Western District

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2023

Level City or Town

State(s) Maryland

Source Crime and Justice Policy Lab, University of Pennsylvania

Policy Areas Public Safety

Baltimore's Western District, historically plagued by high rates of homicides and shootings, has implemented a Group Violence Reduction Strategy that combines targeted law enforcement with offers of support services and community-led messaging to individuals at risk. In the 18 months...

COVID-19 Response Guidance for Community Bail & Bond Funds

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2020

Level City or Town, State

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Spaces, Public Safety, Health

People in prisons, jails, and immigration jails are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks. Given the inherent high risk of all incarceration settings, this statement argues that the best protection for these individuals is release for everyone in the custody of federal prisons,...

Abolitionist Principles & Campaign Strategies for Prosecutor Organizing

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level City or Town, County, Other Boards and Agencies

State(s) All States

Source Community Justice Exchange

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Housing, Public Safety

"The following is a framework that seeks to draw out what “prosecutor organizing” looks like with an abolitionist lens. The first section outlines principles to hold us accountable to each other, so that there is shared agreement about what abolition means in organizing around prosecutors....

Against Ecocide: Legal Protection for Earth

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2016

Level National

State(s) All States

Source Tellus Institute

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources

As states and corporations continue to harm the planet, legal experts and citizens are calling for the codification of ecocide as a fifth crime against peace, joining genocide, crimes of agression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Initiatives to criminalize ecocide express...

Proposed Public Health and Public Safety Pathways for Criminal Justice System Responses to COVID-19

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source Williams Institute

Policy Areas Public Spaces, Public Safety, Health

Incarceration puts both incarcerated people and corrections staff at risk of contracting COVID-19. A wide array of criminal justice stakeholders have come together to call for a public health-oriented approach to the COVID-19 crisis. The key recommendations include releasing incarcerated...

Increase Public Safety and Advance Racial Justice by Repealing Juvenile Curfews

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source Local Progress

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development, Public Safety

Roughly three-quarters of American cities have juvenile curfew laws that criminalize youth for being in public spaces during late night and school hours. These laws disproportionately punish black and brown youth and low-income families. This policy brief argues that juvenile curfew...

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