Photo of a police officer standingPhoto of EMT attending to young patient
Photo of elderly people talking to young man

Reimagining

Public

Safety


Centering
Communities
Fostering
Neighborhood Safety
Reducing Reliance on Police
Understanding
the Problem
911 icon

Every day across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people call 911 for help, with issues ranging from the aftermath of a violent crime, to a loved one suffering a mental health crisis, to a lost pet.

% 911 CALLS
A graph showing that disturbances and suspicious persons calls are the most prevalent 911 calls, while violent crime and emergency calls are the least prevalent.
All 911 calls in a large American city (population 500,000 - 1,000,000) from 1/1/2018-8/1/2022.
Police badge icon

In most communities, no matter the reason for the call, we send the police to address these problems.

But a badge and a gun don’t—and can’t—resolve many of these needs and, too often, make things worse.

Community icon

In short, there is a monumental mismatch between community problems and how the government responds to them. This mismatch disproportionately harms Black and other communities of color.

RPS logo

There is another way.

Though we are told this country is more polarized than ever, many police and communities agree that police are asked to do too much, and that real community needs are going unmet.

Developing
Solutions

The Policing Project at New York University School of Law is partnering with experts of all kinds — from those with lived community experience to those who have worked in municipal government for a generation — in San Francisco, Tucson, Denver, and Chicago, to reimagine how government responds to community needs, ending policing as a one-size-fits-all answer to all problems and fostering real community health and safety.

We are working in these jurisdictions to engage with and learn from communities, conduct much-needed research on dispatch and response, and design a community-centered, data-driven framework to create response systems that work.

About RPS
Connect
With Us

Sign up to learn with us, by becoming a part of our Community of Practice of leaders nationwide interested in coming together to collaboratively problem-solve and share information about reimagining public safety.  Joining gives you exclusive access to the growing range of resources we share, including the latest research, relevant updates in the field, and invitations to special events.

Join us!

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I work, live, play, pray here – what do we do to create safety now?
A collage of black and white photos of all the NYU RPS team members.
Our Team

We have a diverse, multi-disciplinary team of local and national experts to conduct this work with us.  We are guided by a robust advisory board of some of the country’s greatest thought leaders on sustainably meeting community needs. And we are funded by a broad range of private and philanthropic donors.

Our Team
Photo collage of a mural of George Floyd with the text "Where We Are" placed on top
Chicago
City of Chicago
Denver
City of Denver
Tucson
City of Tucson
San Francisco
San Francisco skyline
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When I think of public safety, I think, safe for who?
Learn
With Us

Most importantly, we hope to work with and learn from you.  This website will serve as a dynamic repository of what we are learning.  We plan to share our progress and findings as we go.  We are hosting a regular webinar series to engage with people well-positioned to affect positive change.  And we are listening to the lived experience of communities and practitioners across the country.

Catch up on our learning! Watch our most recent webinars with leaders and fellow Community of Practice members here.

Connect
With Us

Sign up to learn with us, by becoming a part of our Community of Practice of leaders nationwide interested in coming together to collaboratively problem-solve and share information about reimagining public safety.  Joining gives you exclusive access to the growing range of resources we share, including the latest research, relevant updates in the field, and invitations to special events.

Join us!

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.