Policing
Partnering with communities and police departments to rethink public safety and renew trust in policing
All people deserve to feel safe in their homes, communities, and country. Safety is a civil and human right without which people cannot thrive and democracy cannot function. But our nation’s approach to public safety — and whom it protects — is at odds with our shared values of fairness, equity, and justice.
Protecting communities and maintaining safety has long been a core responsibility of police. They are first responders to emergencies, behavioral health crises, and violent crime. Yet our county has a troubled history of policing. From early slave patrols to the modern-day criminalization of people of color, policing has sowed deep distrust of law enforcement across our nation. That history is alive today, borne out in disparities in practices ranging from stops and searches to arrests and use of force.
New Era of Public Safety
To ensure that police officers serve and protect people in all communities, The Education Fund launched the New Era of Public Safety initiative, which offers groundbreaking tools to increase trust, fairness, justice, and mutual respect between police departments and the communities they serve. The report and toolkit offer community-centered policy solutions to equip communities and police departments with best practices and recommendations for adopting 21st century policing models, including tools for advocacy.
Latest News
New Report: Low-Level Arrests in Dallas Are Decreasing, but Concerning Racial Disparities Persist
DALLAS — The Dallas Office of Community Police Oversight (OCPO), Dallas Action, and The Leadership Conference Education Fund today released a report — “A Second Look: An Analysis of Persisting Disparities in Dallas Misdemeanor Arrests” — as a follow-up to a 2021 report that The Education Fund co-authored with OCPO. That report analyzed the disproportionate enforcement of misdemeanors on the city’s Black and Brown residents.
CIVIL RIGHTS REPORT RELEASE: Groups Chronicle Failures of Reporting Deaths in Custody
WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund (The Education Fund) and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) released a new report, “A Matter of Life and Death: The Importance of the Death in Custody Reporting Act,” which analyzes past efforts to implement the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) and how key aspects of requirements have changed with each reauthorization. This report makes specific recommendations about how the Department of Justice can fully implement DCRA with the administrative tools currently available.
Contact Us
Interested in learning more or engaging in police reform in your local community? Get in touch with the New Era of Public Safety team for more information.