Publications
The LA Peace Plan is a transformative vision for community safety in Los Angeles for the next 10 years. The plan presents a comprehensive strategy to create lasting peace in the city, developed in cooperation with the city’s leading anti-violence experts. The LA Peace Plan focuses on four key areas: public leadership, public trust policing, community violence intervention, and partnerships and collaboration to reduce violence.
The Urban Peace Institute (UPI) is pleased to share a new report titled "Building Safety In Los Angeles: A Policy Agenda For Local Health and Safer Communities,” authored by UPI’s Policy Manager, Nicole Brown. The report aims to assist jurisdictions who are trying to reimagine public safety by focusing on three policy areas: Alternatives to Incarceration, Youth Justice Reimagined, and Violence Intervention.
The Urban Peace Institute presents its strategy for developing a community community-led public safety and health infrastructure in its latest publication: Recommendations for Building a Community-Based Public Safety and Health Ecosystem. Cities must build and invest in comprehensive community-based public infrastructures focused on non-law enforcement approaches to neighborhood health and safety. Violence is a public health crisis that demands prioritization for community safety.
The Urban Peace Institute seeks to dismantle the economy of mass incarceration and invest in building a community-based public safety and health infrastructure that allows people of color to thrive. Public leaders across the country are looking for a quick fix, but there is no quick fix. Change is only going to come from a seismic shift in power away from police, police unions, and the justice system towards a transformative investment in community-led safety and health solutions.
The Urban Peace Institute (UPI) believes local governments should be responsive to community needs through public investments. Given the changing landscape in criminal justice reform, UPI’s report examines Orange County’s public spending and investments in its criminal justice system.
Our findings demonstrate that public investments are not meeting the needs of Orange County’s vulnerable residents and communities of color.
This UCLA evaluation of the LAPD Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was designed to examine both the impacts and challenges that have emerged over eight years of experience with this non‐traditional, community safety initiative. Over the past year, the goal of the evaluation study was to assess whether the CSP model actually works and – if CSP is determined to be effective – how the key elements of this model of law enforcement can be implemented nationally.
In Santa Ana, UPI works with The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative to develop and promote coordinated violence reduction and prevention strategies. Beginning in Fall 2017, UPI concentrated its efforts to build cross-sector support for the completion of a community safety assessment.
UPI worked in partnership with Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities to assess residents’ top safety concerns. UPI met with nearly 1,000 residents, ranging from youth to seniors, and from persons experiencing homelessness to those coming out of jail. UPI also met with community leaders, and 15 partner organizations throughout the City of Santa Ana to conduct surveys, focus groups and detailed interviews.
Our resulting Community Safety Assessment Report found:
• Homelessness, Fear of Deportation, and Drug Sales/Use are among the top 3 safety concerns
• Schools and Family are the most effective in addressing safety while Law Enforcement and Elected Officials are the least effective
• Over the last 5 years, Santa Ana has experienced a 62% increase in homicides
• Public trust and credibility of the Santa Ana Police Department is only half of what it should be
Most importantly, our report concluded that Santa Ana’s “business as usual” approach is not working. Residents are not getting what they ask for or the public safety they are paying for.
Analysis of the Attorney General’s Annual Report on CalGang for 2018
This report analyzes publicly available data about CalGang’s use from 2017-2018 and comes as Attorney General Xavier Becerra makes final revisions to the California Department of Justice’s forthcoming CalGang regulations.
Robust Independent Oversight of the Los Angeles County Probation Department: A Historical Legacy A Coalition White Paper
This White Paper examines the history of independent oversight of the Los Angeles County Probation Department and was published as a Coalition, with the Urban Peace Institute joining ACLU Southern California, Children’s Defense Fund California, Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Youth Justice Coalition, Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, Brotherhood Crusade, InnerCity Struggle, and Public Counsel.
GRYD Intervention Incident Response & Gang Crime 2017 Evaluation
This evaluation uncovered the effectiveness of Los Angeles’ engagement of gang intervention workers to reduce retaliatory violence. UPI is a key training partner for both law enforcement and gang intervention workers promoting safety in Los Angeles.
wic 236 "pre-probation' supervision of youth of color with no prior court or probation involvement
This report examines the Probation Department’s services for at-risk youth considered under voluntary probation and the potential risk in providing services to this young population.
Report for the President’s Taskforce on 21st Century Policing, Relationship-Based Policing: Achieving Safety in Watts
UPI prepared a report highlighting effective relationship-based policing strategies used to improve safety in Watts. Our best practices were used to inform the President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Policing.
The Los Angeles Juvenile Probation Outcomes Study
Our study exams how to best coordinate services for probation involved youth through improved data collection and sharing.
Community Safety: A Building Block for Healthy Communities
In partnership with the Prevention Institute, UPI highlights effective strategies that the California Endowment has used to safer communities a reality.
Beyond Confrontation: Community-Centered Policing Tools
In 2014-2015, UPI produced a series of briefs highlighting strategies to improve police and community relations with PolicyLink including:
o Limiting Police Use of Force: Promising Community-Centered Strategies
o Engaging Communities as Partners: Strategies for Problem Solving
o Turning Back the Tide: Promising Efforts to Demilitarize Police Departments
o Values, Leadership, and Sustainability: Institutionalizing Community-Centered Policing
A Call To ACtion: Los Angeles' Quest To Achieve Community Safety
This report highlights progress Los Angeles has made towards keeping kids safe in the worst gang zones.
Comprehensive Violence Reduction Strategy (CVRS): A Framework for Implementing the CVRS in your Neighborhood
This tool is designed to help communities, public sector agencies, service providers, and entities that provide technical assistance to strengthen
their efforts to achieve community safety.
Community Safety Scorecard: City of Los Angeles 2011
In collaboration with the Violence Prevention Coalition (VPC), UPI measured public safety inequity among Los Angeles communities and highlighted areas in need of increased safety resources.
A Call To Action
Our groundbreaking report presenting innovative reforms to Los Angeles’ approach to combat gang violence.