Topic: Crime

Issue Brief

Crime Data Analysis Incarceration Trends Racial and Ethnic Disparities January 14, 2026

Research Brief: The Impact of Jail Reduction Strategies on Community Safety: Findings from Two Safety & Justice Challenge Sites

This study examined whether the jail reduction strategies implemented in two SJC sites reduced jail populations without increasing crime or sacrificing community safety. Findings suggest that incarceration can be avoided without negatively impacting public safety, with recidivism rates declining after SJC implementation. Further, less time in jail resulted in greater public safety; shorter jail stays were associated with lower recidivism risk.

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Research Report

Crime Data Analysis Incarceration Trends Racial and Ethnic Disparities January 14, 2026

The Impact of Jail Reduction Strategies on Community Safety: Findings from Two Safety & Justice Challenge Sites

This study examined whether the jail reduction strategies implemented in two SJC sites reduced jail populations without increasing crime or sacrificing community safety. Findings suggest that incarceration can be avoided without negatively impacting public safety, with recidivism rates declining after SJC implementation. Further, less time in jail resulted in greater public safety; shorter jail stays were associated with lower recidivism risk.

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Research Report

Collaboration Community Engagement Crime Incarceration Trends November 12, 2025

What It Takes to Change the Way America Thinks About and Uses Jails

Kristy Danford, Kimberly Richards, Lore Joplin

America’s local jails hold over 660,000 people daily, with over 7.6 million cycling through annually.¹

Transforming these complex systems requires coordination and collaboration across traditionally adversarial stakeholders including sheriffs, police departments, judges, prosecutors, defenders, government administrators, behavioral health and health care providers, community organizations, and advocates.

While many publications document effective interventions, less attention has been paid to the leadership and infrastructure necessary to implement and sustain these transformations.

This report examines key leadership approaches to implementing and sustaining criminal justice system improvements, specifically focusing on safely reducing jail populations through the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC).

¹Statistical tables retrieved from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Jail Inmates in 2023. [Retrieved Here]

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Research Report

Behavioral Health Crime Policing November 6, 2025

Gatekeeping Justice: The Role of Communications Personnel in Shaping Public Safety

Arizona State University, University of Missouri-St. Louis

The police are often viewed as the gatekeepers of the criminal legal system (CLS), and research emphasizes how their decision-making affects various outcomes, particularly in relation to patrol officer discretion. However, public safety communications personnel (PSCP), who answer 911 calls and handle radio operations, are frequently overlooked, even though they are often the first point of contact for the public. PSCP make discretionary choices that significantly influence police decisions and can affect case outcomes (Gillooly, 2020, 2022). These choices may impact the enforcement of legal sanctions, the use of force, diversion programs, and ultimately, the jail population.

The dispatch process is complex and varies depending on the nature of the call, the specific agency, and the broader community. There are multiple points of contact the public uses to reach public safety personnel by telephone: emergency lines (i.e., 911) and various non -emergency and administrative lines. When a call comes into a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), it is typically answered by a PSCP, who will listen to the caller's information, ask probing questions, and, if the call requires a law enforcement response, enter details into computer systems, such as Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) software.

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Research Report

Community Engagement Crime January 9, 2025

Shaping local narratives through persuasion testing and digital ads

FrameWorks Institute, 1235 Strategies, Daigneault Digital

Public sentiment around crime and safety can pivot on a dime. The issues are deeply personal and emotional, making them highly prone to weaponization. People become particularly susceptible to fearmongering when communities experience or even perceive increases in crime rates or a decline in their quality of life. As a result, efforts to change local criminal justice systems—from alternatives to policing, diversion programs, and bail reform to reentry programs, housing solutions, and mental health services—often operate on the back foot.

This dynamic emerged in full force in the post-pandemic era, including during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. A narrative of diminishing public safety took hold in cities and counties across the country, blaming criminal justice reform broadly—along with the elected officials connected to it—for increases in crime, violence, and disorder, whether real or perceived.

In response, extensive public opinion and message research has emerged from leaders in the justice field to counter “tough-oncrime” rhetoric, talk affirmatively about safety, and foster ongoing support for criminal justice reforms. This playbook offers a practical tool to translate available research into narrative execution at the local level. It is intended to inform local action where too many efforts to protect or advance changes to criminal justice systems and related noncarceral outcomes have been delayed or altogether lost.

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