What we do
CPE's North Star is protecting, empowering, and supporting vulnerable communities—particularly Black and Brown communities—to redesign their public safety systems.
CPE provides decision-makers with data, stories, and relationships to facilitate bold, innovative, and lasting change.
We do science to promote justice.
Scientific Research
Our Approach
CPE’s social scientists, data scientists, analysts, and technologists collaborate closely with our community engagement, policy, and public safety teams to expand the knowledge base on racial equity in public safety. Together, we generate new scientific insights grounded in lived experiences that serve communities working toward justice.
Our scientific work has two complementary aims: to document harms in existing public safety systems so they can be reduced and to deepen the evidence base for public safety redesign to chart a path towards bolder change. Through our patented JusticeNerds programming, we strive to ensure that our on-the-ground technical assistance work is rooted in robust scientific insights and that our research process is informed and shaped by what we learn from community members, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
This work is conducted at CPE in collaboration with the CPE lab at Yale University.
Peer-Reviewed Research And Evaluation
Drawing on analytic tools from a range of fields, including social psychology, sociology, demography, ethnography, political science, economics, data science, statistics, and public health, our interdisciplinary teams collaborate with leading scholars in academia and at nonprofits to produce peer-reviewed science and insights that are easily generalized beyond a single community. We utilize law enforcement’s own administrative records alongside resident and officer surveys and other data sources, engage in research and data partnerships to measure the social costs and benefits of policing and other public safety strategies, and document and help reduce inequity in public safety.
Applied Research And Technical Assistance
Partnering with local communities, we develop public-facing reports and recommendations that facilitate local efforts to improve public safety systems and redesign public safety approaches:
Our Justice Navigator brings together CPE and participating police departments to analyze departmental data and other information, such as crime data. Results are then delivered back in a Justice Navigator Assessment that is accessible to the public through our Justice Navigator web tool.
CPE’s specialized team working on place-based partnerships offers communities and law enforcement rapid advising, technical, and data assistance in response to fast-moving events and strategic partnerships that offer actionable recommendations or strategies for immediate implementation.
Justice Partnerships
Relationships and coalition building are the key to any forward-facing progress. Dedicated CPE teams strategically engage with stakeholders in law enforcement, community-based organizations, and government agencies to consider and test innovations for safer, more just communities.
Partnering
with
Communities
CPE works collaboratively with vulnerable communities to provide partnerships, products, and services that support their advocacy efforts, reduce the harm done to their communities, and empower them to redesign their public safety systems.
Learn more about our Community Engagement work.
sharing insights
with
policymakers
CPE supports policymakers and their communities by providing data-driven analyses, resources, and policy solutions to improve public safety systems. Our resources—grounded in evidence that supports the interrelated goals of achieving equity, justice, and safety—contain science-backed recommendations that can be readily adopted to drive change.
Learn more about how we provide support to policymakers, elected officials, and staff members seeking to implement new approaches to public safety.
Engaging
with Law
Enforcement
CPE leverages relationships with law enforcement agencies to facilitate data-informed changes that reduce the harms caused by inequitable policing and eliminate racial disparities within public safety. We use advanced analytics to diagnose disparities in policing, shed light on police behavior, and answer questions police and communities have asked for years about building a healthy relationship.
Learn more about the processes and approaches used to reduce harm and redesign systems.