IACP Safety and Justice Challenge
Law enforcement leaders are critical stakeholders in their local criminal justice systems, and have a powerful voice to contribute to any conversation about criminal justice system reform.
IACP is a Strategic Ally in support of the law enforcement stakeholders participating in the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), an initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to encourage the creation of just and effective local justice systems. Jurisdictions participating in the Challenge are developing and modeling effective ways to keep people who allegedly committed low-risk offenses out of jail, including through alternatives to arrest and front-end diversion, and reintegrating those who must be confined into the community upon release, and help them stay out of jail thereafter.
For local leaders involved in the Challenge, this means a commitment to identifying the drivers of incarceration within their cities, counties, and states; engaging a diverse set of community stakeholders to create strategies that reduce their jail populations while upholding public safety and promoting equity; and building infrastructure to track the right data and measure performance over time.
New Resource Spotlight
The Role of Police Leadership in Criminal Justice Reform
Police leaders are at the forefront of transforming pu
blic safety through proactive, intentional reform. By fostering transparency, accountability, and innovation, they reshape agency culture, build community trust, and improve public safety. This high-level brief includes case studies from agencies that have successfully implemented reform. This resource is designed to inspire and equip police executives to lead change effectively.
Sustainability for Alternatives to Arrest Programs
Police officers are often the first point of contact for individuals with complex needs, such as mental health services, substance use treatment, or housing resources. Officers respond daily to calls for low level offenses, which may be driven by underlying needs rather than criminal intent. Alternatives to arrest programs provide officers options to connect people to appropriate resources when arrest is not necessary. As police agencies integrate alternatives-to-arrest into their operations and see the benefits—more efficient allocation of resources and enhanced community trust—the next step is ensuring these efforts can be continued over the long term. Sustaining these programs requires early planning, strong partnerships, and strategies that support police agencies in using these tools effectively to improve public safety.
This brief provides police leaders and practitioners with practical guidance to maintain and strengthen deflection and diversion initiatives already in place, ensuring that successful alternatives-to-arrest options remain available to address the needs of both officers and the communities they serve.
Sites
Northeast
| Allegheny County, PA | Middlesex County, MA | Philadelphia, PA |
| Baltimore City, MD | New York, NY | State of Connecticut |
| Camden County, NJ | Norfolk County, MA | State of Delaware |
| Cumberland County, ME |
Southeast
Midwest
West
Southwest
| Bernalillo County, NM | San Juan County, NM | Tulsa County, OK |
| Harris County, TX | Texas Health and Human Services, TX | West Texas Centers, TX |
| Pima County, AZ |
Resources
Responding to Individuals in Behavioral Health Crisis via Co-Responder Models
Cities and counties across the country are increasingly adopting the promising co-responder model to improve how they engage with people experiencing behavioral health crises. Co-responder models vary in practice, but generally involve law enforcement and clinicians working together in response to calls for service involving a person experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The model provides law enforcement with appropriate alternatives to arrest as well as additional options to respond to non-criminal calls. Communities and local leaders can use the model to develop a crisis continuum of care that results in the reduction of harm, arrests, and use of jails and emergency departments and that promotes the development 
of and access to quality mental and substance use disorder treatment and services.
Working Toward Safety and Justice Through Police & Prosecutor Partnerships
Law enforcement and prosecutors are on the front lines of the criminal justice system. Each day, they respond to crimes that span the spectrum from violent incidents to property and drug-related crimes to crimes of nuisance. Daily, 
they witness difficult and traumatic cases and have repeated and frequent contact with individuals in need of services and treatment. To best address the greatest threats to public safety and prioritize time and resources, justice system stakeholders can employ front-end diversion as a response to nonviolent, low-level crimes.
IACP hosted four SJC National Law Enforcement Leadership Institutes between 2022 and 2025. Each Institute convened police leaders from across the over 100 SJC sites across the United States to foster collaboration, promote peer learning, share promising practices, explore sustainability planning, and discuss innovative approaches to policing. This report describes the key insights, innovative practices, and recommendations from the four SJC Law Enforcement Leadership Institutes to support police agencies in advancing and sustaining collaborative, community-centered approaches to public safety.
Webinars
This webinar examines the offenses, arrests, and law enforcement data reported by law enforcement throughout the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, presents alternative to arrest programs that police and prosecutors are implementing in their communities, and discusses the importance of switching over to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) where the crime reporting would be incidence based rather than summary based.
Providing treatment and behavioral health services is not part of the traditional core mission of law enforcement, but some law enforcement agencies across the nation are launching innovative PAD programs that rely on partnerships with community-based organizations to create pathways to behavioral health, housing, and other social supports, so that individuals can get the services they need. These programs are experiencing promising results: crime reduction, improved community-police relations, reduction of the treatment burden on the justice system, restored lives and families, and jurisdictional cost savings.
Law Enforcement’s Path to Improving Public Safety: Partnering with Local Behavioral Health Agencies
The nation’s opioid epidemic and a growing recognition of the impact of mental health issues are causing a shift in the way law enforcement responds to individuals suffering from addiction and mental illness. While it is not part of the core mission of law enforcement to provide treatment and behavioral health services, many are finding that by partnering with organizations that are equipped to meet these challenges, substantial strides can be made to address substance use and mental health issues within their communities.
Promoting Public Safety through Diversion and a Housing First Approach
Since announcing their Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in 2015, including a community-wide adoption of Housing First, Milwaukee County is on the verge of being the largest county in the nation to hit functional zero for chronic homelessness later this year. Part of the success is due to an innovative partnership with local law enforcement, including the Milwaukee Police Department. By implementing new pre- and post-booking strategies, to include a focus on permanent housing instead of arrests for homeless individuals, Milwaukee County has seen a dramatic reduction in criminal justice activity for the homeless population.
Related Projects
Citation In Lieu of Arrest
Pretrial Justice Initiative
Community-Police Engagement
Police leaders, community members, and elected officials all play a crucial role in moving constructive public safety efforts forward. The tools below provide policy considerations...
