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CPE Publishes Report on Improving Outcomes for Contra Costa Public Defender Clients

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Martinez, CA — The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) announces the publication of a new report, Improving Outcomes for Contra Costa Public Defender Clients: Exploring Life Factors, Data, and Racial Justice, in partnership with the Contra Costa Public Defenders Office (CCPD) and with support from Measures for Justice (MFJ), a nonpartisan nonprofit using data to reshape the criminal legal system. The report is the result of a multifaceted research project with the goal of helping CCPD better understand their clients’ experiences and challenges when coming into contact with law enforcement and the criminal legal system. Taking a community-centered approach, CPE conducted 41 one-on-one interviews with CCPD clients and identified several ways to advocate for improved outcomes and more robust and holistic services. These recommendations include greater investment in supportive services for mental and physical health, employment, housing, and transportation, as well as alternatives to pretrial detention and the imposition of […]

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Statement on the Passing of President Jimmy Carter on this National Day of Mourning

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The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) is deeply saddened by the death of President Jimmy Carter. His advancement of human rights on the international stage, dedication to racial justice here at home, and devotion to a life of service to community should serve as a model to all. In his early political career in the mid-1960s, President Carter championed voting rights as a Georgia state senator; when elected Georgia’s governor, he used his 1971 inaugural address to state unequivocally that “the time for racial discrimination is over,”going on to dramatically increase the number of Black people appointed and hired to serve in the state’s institutions. During his time in the White House (1977-1981), President Carter supported Affirmative Action,  signed an executive order to significantly increase the participation of historically Black colleges and universities [HBCUs] in federally sponsored programs, and expanded the ranks of Black people serving in the federal government

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CPE Statement on Last Night’s Presidential Election Results

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At the Center for Policing Equity, we woke up today not only with a sense of grieving and urgency — as we did after November 5, 2016 and again after January 6th, 2021 — but also in the context of the long struggle towards Black liberation. In the words of our co-founder and CEO, Phillip Atiba Solomon: “Generational progress for Black folks in the United States, and across the globe, arrives in the context of cycles of backlash. It was not surprising, eight years ago, for the nation to choose white resentment over competence. It is no more historically surprising that yesterday voters chose a candidate found guilty of sexual assault, fraud, and racist discrimination over a woman who had spent the majority of her career trying to protect people from those kinds of attacks. We are all made vulnerable by the nation’s inability to quit its addiction to white

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CPE and the Fines & Fees Justice Center Publish White Paper on Prioritizing Safety in Federal Transportation Funding

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The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) and the Fines & Fees Justice Center (FFJC) announce the publication of a new white paper titled, “Beyond Enforcement: Prioritizing Safety in Federal Transportation Funding.” This white paper examines the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) prioritization and funding of traffic enforcement measured by frequency rather than safety – an approach shown to repeatedly increase racial disparities for Black and Latine drivers – and the risks of continuing to prioritize and fund such enforcement. The paper also provides recommendations for federal officials to clarify what a successful multifaceted systemic approach looks like in order to truly improve traffic safety outcomes. “For decades, law enforcement agencies have been quietly incentivized by grant funding structures to make as many stops and write as many tickets as possible – resulting in policing for profit over safety,” says Scarlet Neath, Policy Director at CPE. “We are grateful to have

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CPE Publishes White Paper on Compounding Anti-Black Racial Disparities in Police Stops

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The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) announces the publication of a new white paper titled “Compounding Anti-Black Racial Disparities in Police Stops.” This paper provides an overview of racial disparities in the multiple decisions police officers make when interacting with the public during vehicle stops. More specifically, the white paper maps how racial disparities during traffic stops increase the risks of harm for Black drivers at subsequent decision points throughout the encounter and that these traffic stops serve no public safety or crime reduction purpose. “Decades of research shows that Black people disproportionately bear the brunt of policing in the United States,” said the paper’s author Matthew A. Graham, Senior Data Analyst at CPE. “They’re stopped more often for pretextual, non-public-safety related reasons like expired plates, tinted windows, and broken taillights, which are exactly the types of stops that are much more likely to result in a search, so Black

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CPE Statement on Mixed Verdict in Tyre Nichol’s Murder Trial Against Officers

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Tyre Nichols should be alive. Tyre Nichols’ 7-year-old son should still have his father. The Memphis officers convicted Thursday for their roles in his fatal beating – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith – lied to a supervisor, to medical professionals treating Nichols, and in subsequent written reports about the extent of the force they used during the early January 2023 encounter. Police video from the brutal attack showed the officers pepper-spraying and punching and kicking Nichols. When he tried to escape his attackers, they tasered him. The footage captured Nichols calling out for his mother as the officers pummeled the 29-year-old with police batons mere steps from his home. All video evidence clearly shows that Nichols was restrained during the attack and unable to comply with instructions. Bean, Haley, and Smith now face as many as 20 years in prison after being convicted Thursday of witness tampering related to

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The Center for Policing Equity Publishes Recommendations on Deprioritizing Enforcement of Anti-Abortion, Anti-Trans, and Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws

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The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) announces the publication of Do Not Investigate: Anti-Abortion, Anti-Trans, and Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws. This new resource provides recommendations for deprioritizing the enforcement of state laws that divert limited police resources away from serious crimes and true public safety issues in pursuit of so-called “morality laws.” These laws also threaten the health, rights, and safety of community members. CPE urges municipal governments and law enforcement agencies to use no time or resources to enforce these so-called “morality laws.” “We know that lack of access to medical care caused by recent state legislation is having severe consequences,” said Scarlet Neath, Policy Director at CPE. “For example, a recent report confirmed that Georgia’s abortion ban caused the heartbreaking and preventable deaths of two mothers, Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller. This much-needed resource shows how police departments and policymakers can take steps to ensure that the harms caused

The Center for Policing Equity Publishes Recommendations on Deprioritizing Enforcement of Anti-Abortion, Anti-Trans, and Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Read More

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