Authors
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Daniela Gilbert
Public Safety Anchor Institutions Explained How They Work and Why They’re Important
Overview
Real public safety embraces a public health approach that prioritizes the safety and well-being of individuals and communities. That’s why cities and counties across the country are investing in innovative safety services, such as alternative 911 response teams and offices of violence prevention or neighborhood safety. Yet in many places, these essential services exist in a scattered mix of nonprofits and government services. Building dedicated government infrastructure and allocating resources through public safety anchor institutions (also referred to as PSAIs) make this coordination possible.
Public safety anchor institutions are government agencies, departments, or offices primarily responsible for the development and implementation of a jurisdiction’s comprehensive public safety strategy. An anchor institution complements and sits at the same level as traditional public safety institutions like police and fire departments. This fact sheet provides a road map of their framework, function, and how they can shape effective practices to help keep communities safe.
Key Takeaway
Public safety anchor institutions are central to a whole-of-government approach to public safety. Such an approach treats safety as a shared responsibility. Anchor institutions enable this by bringing together multiple agencies to coordinate comprehensive efforts. Vera is collaboratively developing and synthesizing the institutional infrastructure, polices, and processes needed to create and sustain public safety anchor institutions.
Publication Highlights
An anchor institution directly manages a defined number of non-enforcement-based safety responses and services and prioritizes public engagement and accountability to residents.
Anchor institutions establish robust data infrastructure to enable public and cross-agency data sharing to support data-informed decision-making for more effective public safety strategies.
Instead of using arrests and incarceration as a one-size-fits-all public safety tool, anchor institutions invest in a range of resources to bring what’s needed to people and neighborhoods in crisis.