Projects

Safety Is Campaign


Few initiatives document and elevate community assets—such as healing spaces, youth programs, cultural hubs, peer support, and mutual aid—that promote safety outside of policing and punishment. As a result, funding continues to prioritize punitive approaches over preventative, community-driven strategies.

This initiative shifts the narrative by documenting and amplifying community-led safety efforts rooted in care, healing, and equity. It positions residents as experts of their own safety by creating a living map of local resources and delivering resident-informed recommendations to decision-makers.

Led by residents in Compton, East Los Angeles, and the Antelope Valley, the initiative will identify community assets, elevate local voices through storytelling, and produce actionable recommendations for countywide safety strategies.

Participatory Research Collaborative

The Center partners with community-based organizations, directly impacted residents, researchers, and law students to study and evaluate community safety strategies that do not rely on law enforcement. Through collaborative research that centers lived experience and community expertise, we generate both qualitative and quantitative insights into what works, why it works, and how it can be strengthened.

Our findings are published through annual reports, white papers, and public resources that provide actionable recommendations for the design, funding, implementation, and evaluation of community-led safety initiatives. By documenting effective alternatives and divestment strategies, we help communities, policymakers, and practitioners build safer, healthier, and more equitable systems of care and accountability.

Our Process

  • Asset Mapping

    By partnering with community organizations, the Center will train residents to identify local spaces, organizations, and practices that foster healing and safety. The findings will be made available in a publicly accessible interactive map and database.

  • Geometric drawing of an outline square with sections divided by vertical, horizontal, and half circle lines.

    Multimedia Campaign

    Residents will share testimonies—through video, audio, and art—about what makes them feel safe. Content will be distributed via social media, community events, and partner networks.

  • Geometric drawing of an outline square with sections divided by vertical, horizontal, and circle lines.

    Final Report

    We analyze asset-mapping data and testimonies to produce a countywide report highlighting effective community-led safety strategies, which are shared through public forums and policy briefings.