Violent crime has plummeted in the United States, but politics threaten progress. Local leaders credit investments in community violence intervention, mental health and drug treatment, and youth engagement programs with helping to bring crime to historic lows.

President Donald Trump’s senseless funding cuts to community-based public safety programs and his embrace of an enforcement-first approach—including deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities—imperil this success.

To promote and protect public safety solutions that work, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) are partnering on the Serious about Safety Majority campaign. With the support of a broad coalition of advocates, policymakers, and criminal justice reform groups, this campaign will urge leaders to set a proactive policy agenda to address public safety.

“For too long, leaders in Washington and around our nation have weaponized the issue of public safety with a failed ‘tough-on-crime’ approach that drives fear and division while fueling a cycle of mass incarceration, instead of delivering real solutions that make communities safer,” CBC Chair and U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s 9^th Congressional District said. “President Trump has routinely demonized cities with sizable Black populations as crime-ridden or lawless to justify policies that have made our communities less safe, undermined trust between communities and law enforcement, and diverted attention from proven, evidence-based strategies that reduce violence. The facts tell a different story: Black mayors in cities across America are leading some of the nation's most successful crime reduction efforts.”

At a recent virtual roundtable hosted by Vera and the CBC, several Black mayors and CBC members promoted proactive approaches that cities like Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago; Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; Oakland, California and many others have used to drive crime down to historic lows.

In Baltimore, for example, homicides are down an incredible 23 percent in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025 following the implementation of Mayor Brandon Scott’s serious-about-safety approach. This strategy included concentrating community intervention resources on the people most at risk of committing violence.

Speaking at the roundtable, Mayor Scott said he never would have imagined a day when the Baltimore Police Department would seek out people suspected of harmful activity and deliver them letters about supportive programming, with a message from the mayor that says, “I want to give you a chance to change your life.”

“That would have never happened when I was a kid,” Scott said. “They literally would have just come and arrested that person and said ‘forget them, forget their family, and throw them away.’”

There is clear public support for these kinds of efforts—which prevent crime, rather than responding in the aftermath when harm is already done. Polling shows that “serious-about-safety” strategies that “prevent crime by increasing treatment for mental health and drug addiction” and “fully fund things that are proven to create safe communities—like good schools, jobs, and affordable housing” outperform so-called “tough-on-crime” policies in terms of public support.

Despite the public’s clear preference for effective proactive and preventive strategies, the Trump administration has slashed federal funding for programs that prevent crime, directing resources toward unpopular National Guard deployments, supercharged immigration enforcement, and a war that Congress has not approved.

Through the Serious About Safety Majority campaign, Vera and the CBC are sharing information with the public on what truly makes communities safer. How can other leaders adopt a similar approach to the one that is making a real difference in these mayors’ cities? The serious-about-safety approach centers on the following components:

• Strong, accountable policing. Police are too often treated as the default response to every problem. Voters don’t just want more policing; they want better policing. That means supporting police and holding them accountable when they abuse their power.
• Ending the overdose crisis. The failed War on Drugs shows that enforcement alone won’t solve this public health crisis. Tougher penalties have not meaningfully reduced drug use or overdose deaths. Instead, investing in expanded treatment and recovery supports, rapid response, and proven tools like naloxone can help prevent overdoses and save lives.
• Supporting strong mental health systems and de-escalating crisis. People experiencing mental health or substance use crises require clinical expertise, yet too often police are dispatched to crises they are unprepared for. A safer approach sends the right help at the right time, allowing trained professionals to handle mental health emergencies and allowing police to focus on serious crime.
• Tackling gun violence. We need to support evidence-based violence prevention—especially community violence intervention and trauma recovery services that reduce shootings and interrupt cycles of violence.
• Safe streets and good quality of life. Communities are safer when they have stable housing, well-maintained public spaces, and safe, structured options for young people outside of school. We should invest in housing and community revitalization, help businesses adopt effective safety infrastructure, and support neighborhood-based ambassadors who can de-escalate low-level incidents.
• A fairer, more accountable justice system. An effective justice system prioritizes safety, justice, and accountability. Excessive punishment does not repair harm, and a broad, bipartisan majority of Americans supports rehabilitation, proportionality, and second chances. A justice system that is fair and effective builds trust, supports crime survivors, and delivers long-term safety.

Despite evidence that preventive strategies can make communities safer, the GOP spent $1 billion on dehumanizing “tough-on-crime” and anti-immigration ads in 2024, a record high for Willie Horton–style fearmongering. The tactic continues in the lead-up to midterm elections. “It is almost like watching the Titanic over and over and over again,” said U.S. Representative Summer Lee of Pennsylvania’s 12^th Congressional District, speaking at the roundtable. “This ‘tough-on-crime’ narrative is a really powerful tool that reactionaries trot out every two to four years so that they can win elections. And the consequence of that has been disastrous in communities like mine. . . . The Serious About Safety campaign, for me, is an opportunity for us to avoid the iceberg.”

Across the country, communities are showing that a serious-about-safety approach delivers results. Now, leaders at every level of government should build on that progress by investing in proven strategies to prevent harm and build thriving, safe communities. That’s how we make lasting safety possible for everyone.