Arrest Trends
Interactive data tool on policing trends at the national and local levels
Policing
The goal of Vera’s Policing Program is to shrink the footprint of American policing and advance racial equity. We provide data and tools in support of grassroots and community-led movements and blueprint approaches that prioritize community needs. We approach our work by focusing on areas in which disparities and biases exist, making enforcement data widely accessible, and uplifting community-based solutions.
Police officers are the most visible manifestation of the criminal legal system, and their actions have a profound impact on the lives of millions of people every year. From its inception, American policing has harmed and disproportionately targeted communities of color—and Black communities in particular. Despite its legacy of violence and racism, policing today lacks transparency, and officers are rarely held accountable for their actions. As a result, police legitimacy is at an all-time low and communities across the country are questioning what role, if any, police should play in 21st century America—and why elected representatives are funding police departments over other essential public services. To date, the voices of those who are most impacted by police have been excluded from decisions about policing. This is despite the fact that enforcement numbers in the United States are staggering (with more than 10 million arrests each year) and that racially disparate enforcement patterns have caused significant harm to communities of color. Further, although the collateral consequences of punitive enforcement for individuals and communities are well documented, police still remain the default first responders in most places—responding to a range of social, economic, and health issues that would be better resolved within the community—and often in ways that exacerbate existing disadvantage.
Our current projects build on Vera’s position as a national justice reform organization and our capacity to gather and analyze data, communicate with diverse audiences, and engage both government stakeholders and grassroots organizations.
Featured
Photo by Jovelle Tamayo
Behavioral Health Crisis Alternatives
Shifting from Police to Community Responses
Gatekeepers
The Role of Police in Ending Mass Incarceration
Police in America arrest millions of people each year, and the likelihood that arrest will lead to jail incarceration has increased steadily. Ending mass incarceration and repairing its extensive collateral consequences thus must begin by focusing on the front end of the system: police work. Recognizing the roughly 18,000 police agencies around the ...
Related Work
Changing Police Practices Means Changing 911
Three questions every community should be asking
Each year, people across the country make approximately 240 million calls to 911. That’s an average of 7.6 calls for service every second. But only about 1 percent of 911 calls in major cities are to report violent crimes in progress. Instead, 911 has become the default option for many people seeking support for a broad array of problems—such as d ...
Blog Post
Jim Parsons
Frankie Wunschel
Understanding Police Enforcement
A Multicity 911 Analysis
With more than 240 million 911 calls each year, a sizable proportion of police officers’ time consists of responding to calls for service. Despite the importance of the 911 call system, little information exists on the nature of calls for service, how they are handled, and how police respond. The Vera Institute of Justice partnered with two police ...
After Weeks of Protests, a Look at Policy Changes in U.S. Policing
Series: Target 2020
Data-Backed Outrage: Police Violence by the Numbers
Over the past decade, the widespread use of cell phone cameras and social media has brought more public consciousness to the cold reality of police brutality, including the killings of unarmed Black men, women, and children. The tragedies of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd this year ignited overdue awareness, outrage, and calls to action from a wid ...
Blog Post
Logan Schmidt
Micah Haskell-Hoehl
Truth in Numbers
Racial Disparities in Police Killings
Months from now, a judge and jury will consider what happened in Minneapolis in the early morning of May 25, 2020. They’ll watch the footage of Officer Chauvin, knee on Floyd’s neck, his own hand casually in his pocket. They’ll be reminded that this police encounter was sparked by nothing more than an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. Twenty dollars. ...
Blog Post
Nicholas Turner
Frankie Wunschel
What Policing Costs: A Look at Spending in America’s Biggest Cities
A Look Inside the New York City Police Department Budget
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is by far the biggest and most expensive police department in the country: The overall cost of the NYPD is actually more than $11 billion annually. In recent weeks, the call to defund the NYPD has reached fever pitch, with calls to pass a budget on July 1, 2020, that includes $1 billion less for policing. ...
How can we change a system set up to control Black people? By radically dismantling it.
The senseless and violent deaths of Black people—like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and David McAtee—at the hands of law enforcement are not isolated incidents. They are examples of an unjust and oppressive system that is weaponized against Black people. Though the just prosecution of officers involved in acts of police brutality is necessary, it h ...
Blog Post
Jamila Hodge
Protecting Black Lives: The Crisis of American Policing
The police make 10.5 million arrests a year, mostly for minor offenses. In fact, less than 5 percent were for incidents that involved serious violence. Every police encounter threatens escalation, injury, and death. Real accountability in policing is long overdue. Vera is committed to dismantling the current culture of policing and working toward s ...
Blog Post
Nicholas Turner
Photo by Victor J. Blue | The New York Times | Redux
Ending Police Violence and Ensuring Accountability
Systemic policing reform is long overdue
Floyd’s Death Emblematic of a Fundamentally Brutal Criminal Justice System
Even if encounters with police do not result in extrajudicial execution, Black Americans can reasonably fear that the criminal justice system will deliver wildly disproportionate punishment and disregard for our humanity. Even when operating “correctly,” it is fundamentally brutal towards people of color. The true extent of the horror that the U.S. ...
Blog Post
Erica Bryant
Series: Covid-19
Coronavirus, Mental Health, and the Enduring Importance of Health-Centered Crisis Response
With support from the NFL Foundation, Vera’s Serving Safely initiative promotes crisis response programs that connect people in crisis to community-based services while minimizing involvement with police and the criminal justice system. In today’s fraught environment, however, vital social distancing efforts deprive people of traditional supports a ...
Blog Post
Jackson Beck
Leah Pope