California Public Safety
We know over-policing and over-incarceration do not work, which is why Californians overwhelmingly support, voted for, and demand data-informed public safety solutions and criminal justice reform.
The research is clear – over-policing and incarcerating more people doesn’t lower crime. What prevents crime and keeps our communities safe is education, health, economic equality, and prevention.
2024 General Election:
2024 California Ballot: Public Safety Endorsements
Candidates
Ballot Propositions
Proposition 6
Vote YES on Proposition 6 to eliminate involuntary servitude or slavery of any form as a criminal punishment that can be used by the state.
California’s state constitution outlaws slavery but maintains language that allows for involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for a crime. Proposition 6 would repeal that language, and replace it with language that clearly outlaws the use of involuntary servitude under any circumstances, and allows the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to instead issue credits to incarcerated people for the acceptance of voluntary work assignments during their incarceration.
Proposition 36
Vote NO on Proposition 36 to prevent a return to over-incarceration and maintain the investment in rehabilitation services, reentry programs, and lowered incarceration rates established by Proposition 47.
Proposition 36 would upend the progress that Proposition 47 established to increase community investment in mental health services, substance use treatment, and diversion programs, and refocus on mass incarceration. A fiscal-impact statement associated with Proposition 36 estimates that it will ultimately result in a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars annually in court costs and the expense of housing an increased prison population. Voting NO will allow these critical funds to continue to be spent on truancy, youth services, rehabilitation, and substance-use treatment programs.
- Prop. 36 taps into California voter anger over crime. But is it a terrible idea? | Opinion – The California McClatchy Editorial Board
- These programs helped former inmates get treatment, jobs. Prop. 36 could slash their funds – Sacramento Bee
- Endorsement: No on Proposition 36. California shouldn’t revive the disastrous war on drugs – Los Angeles Times
- No on Proposition 36, a revival of failed and unjust policies – Orange County Register
Courage Prop 36 and Prop 47 Resources:
Statement: Fourteen California Equity-Focused Organizations Unite in Opposition to Prop 36
The crime prevention programs funded by the more than $800 million in savings realized by Prop 47 are significantly reducing recidivism, homelessness, and unemployment among participants who complete them.
A nonpartisan analysis of that initiative found that the proposed measure would likely increase state and local criminal justice costs by hundreds of millions of dollars and reduce the amount of money spent on Proposition 47 programs.
- Prop 36 will cost taxpayers more than $26 billion in prison costs in the next decade—the biggest prison spending increase in California history.
- Prop 36 cuts $850 million in the next decade from dedicated funding for mental health, drug treatment, victim services, reentry, and crime prevention programs.
Solutions that Keep People Safe & Keep Communities Whole:
| Increase reentry infrastructure: Employment is associated with far lower rates of reoffending, and higher wages are associated with lower rates of criminal activity. Health care, housing, and transportation services are also key to reducing recidivism. And yet according to the Urban Institute, very few people leaving prison receive assistance obtaining these things, including in California. |
| Support survivors: Right now, we mainly provide crime survivors with one option to heal: prosecution. This is not actually a very good one. We should fund trauma care, including at emergency rooms, health services, and financial support for all people who experience harm, even when the prosecution cannot prove a case in criminal court. |
| Support survivors: Right now, we mainly provide crime survivors with one option to heal: prosecution. This is not actually a very good one. We should fund trauma care, including emergency rooms, health services, and financial support for all people who experience harm, even when the prosecution cannot prove a case in criminal court. |
| Help those struggling with substance use disorders: Invest in harm reduction techniques, like safe injection sites. Dramatically scale drug treatment facilities statewide, and end barriers to employment and housing for those who have drug convictions. |
| Dramatically increase mental health treatment: We should invest in crisis response teams that send social workers to assist those experiencing a mental health crisis. We must also dramatically increase the number of free treatment beds that are available. |
| Invest in known violence prevention programs: We should heavily invest in data-proven violence interrupters, who are credible messengers that can prevent retaliatory violence. |
| Help those struggling with substance use disorders: Invest in harm reduction techniques, like safe injection sites and readily available Narcan. Dramatically scale drug treatment facilities statewide, and end barriers to employment and housing for those who have drug convictions. |
| Expand Trauma Recovery Centers: The UCSF Trauma Recovery Center provides free support for victims who need mental health treatment and other services, at zero cost to the victim. These programs are critical because victimization– and especially being a victim of a gunshot wound– dramatically increases the risk of becoming an offender in the future. |
All Californians should work together to make our communities safe. The best way to achieve safe communities for all Californians is by investing in community resources!
Voting is how communities come together in solidarity and make – and protect – change.
- Protect: Our dollars. Our voice. Our vote. Our communities.
- Vote and hold the police accountable.
- Vote to invest in our communities.
Public safety is a priority for communities around the state, and we know what keeps us safe: comprehensive investments in every person’s health, and security, and a justice system that is fair and willing to hold everyone, including police and corporations, accountable for their actions. The most impacted communities have long demanded reforms to our economic and criminal justice systems and are leading in redefining justice to be more restorative and healing.
Community Safety Resources
Shareable Graphics
Californians Know the Truth:
| MYTH/DISINFORMATION | TRUTH/FACTS |
|---|---|
| Homicides are at an all time high | “A long-range look at crime statistics, particularly homicide data, shows that the 2020 crime rate nationally and in California was still a fraction of its highs in the early 1990s, according to government statistics.” |
| Theft is at an all time high | Certain crimes, such as theft, increased from 2020 to 2021, but what’s also true is that it is down in California, in general. The state is far from levels experienced in the 90s (during our failed “tough on crime” policies”). Also worth note: these types of offenses are up across the nation, which include states and counties with conservative (“tough on crime”) DAs. There is NO correlation between the two. But there is a correlation between economic equity and crime. |
| Hate crimes have spiked | Asian American communities have experienced hate on levels that hasn’t been seen in decades BUT we can’t ignore that this criminal activity was a byproduct of the GOPs (and president’s) racist rhetoric at the beginning of, and throughout, the pandemic. To combat this we need to build community, not further segregate folks through incarceration and divisive rhetoric. |