Reimagining Public Safety
We are working with our Racial Justice Grants Committee and a range of community leaders to help guide and directly inform our Reimagining Public Safety program. Learn more about our approach when we develop new programs.
As we advance our racial justice work, we will make every effort to lean into difference – difference in experience, background and points of view. In 2020, we began that listening work by sitting down with a range of individuals and perspectives specific to public safety. This included community advocates, people who have experienced negative encounters with police, as well as state, county and city leaders, and law enforcement.
Our Racial Justice Grants Committee deliberated on these insights and looked at models being implemented in other cities.
All of this is deepening our understanding and challenging our assumptions as we further develop our program priorities and the ways in which we can play our best role in supporting BIPOC communities as it relates to reimagining public safety.
Beliefs that guide this work
Our Racial Justice Grants Committee helped develop a set of beliefs to guide our Reimagining Public Safety program.
- Safety in our community should not differ by race.
- Safety is a fundamental right, and it is the responsibility of government to uphold it.
- Police, like all public servants, must be accountable to the communities they serve.
- Beyond the police, other institutions and the broader community play a role in public safety.
- We must condemn and reconcile the racist history and present-day results of policing and the trauma it inflicts in community.
- Communities disproportionately impacted must be included in defining public safety and key decisions to advancing it.
We will continue to share updated information about this program on our website.
Reducing Harm Through Collaborative Solutions
The Foundation, as part of its Reimagining Public Safety program, partnered with the National League of Cities to support local municipalities and counties that prioritize public safety and well-being improvements for Black communities.
The Collaborative Solutions grant opportunity is now closed. We will share funding decisions in the fall. Click here to review the original request for proposals.
