WHAT WE DO
We identify and implement alternatives to traditional policing, shifting Denver’s response from over-reliance on law enforcement to restorative and healing practices.
Our solutions are informed by national models and rooted in our three core pillars: Healing and Empowerment, Community Intervention, and Community Power-Building.
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Healing and Empowerment
The first step in community-led safety involves the pain and traumas our current system has caused. We will first center healing and empowerment to provide resources to individuals and families from historically marginalized communities disproportionately affected by the carceral system. This will include addressing trauma and mental health challenges, strengthening families and community relationships, and providing support for victims. We will connect people to restorative services through culturally relevant, gender-responsive, and healing-informed resources while addressing the underlying causes of violence.
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Community Intervention
We will support organizations, businesses, and communities with trauma-informed, gender-responsive, and culturally relevant training programs and resources to prevent and heal from violence. This will happen through Providing training on crisis intervention, ethical communication, and mediation services. We will work with neighborhoods to build a peacebuilders program to intervene in communities instead of law-enforcement officers when it makes sense. Finally, we will foster collaborations among providers and organizers to streamline efforts, build capacity, and collaborate on funding opportunities.
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Community Power-Building
Through community power-building, we will drive systemic change to decrease the need for police presence. This will include dismantling harmful systems and advancing healing networks. Share local research to create community power-building and grassroots advocacy and promote long-term changes.
Our Models For Community Safety
Communities have been keeping themselves safe for decades outside of armed law-enforcement. These are some key models from across the country that drive community safety we use as guidance.
Community Violence Intervention (CVI):
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CVI a multifaceted approach to reducing violence within communities. It involves implementing evidence-based strategies that are specifically tailored to the needs of the community. CVI often relies on trusted members of the community to deliver interventions, focusing on those individuals most at risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence.
CVI in action
Imagine your neighborhood has some problems and there are things happening that make people feel scared. CVI is a special team that helps to make the neighborhood a safer place. These special people live in the neighborhood too, so they understand what it's like. They talk to kids, teenagers, and grown-ups, and they try to figure out what’s really going on things, and then come up with ideas, or special programs to help make the neighborhood safer. CVI is all about helping people in the community feel safe and happy, and making sure everyone has what they need to a live a full life.
The CVI Approach
Focus on High-Risk Individuals: CVI prioritizes intervention efforts on individuals most likely to be involved in violence as either victims or perpetrators
Community-Centered Approach: CVI relies on trusted members of the affected community to deliver interventions, fostering strong relationships and building community resilience.
Evidence-Based Strategies: CVI utilizes proven methods and adapts them to the specific needs of the community to effectively reduce violence.
Addressing Root Causes: CVI recognizes the systemic factors contributing to violence, such as racial inequities and socioeconomic disparities, and works to address these root causes.
Community-Driven Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
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Using architecture and urban planning to create or restore public spaces
Create community gathering spaces
Restoration of vacant lots
Investing physical environment
When communities look safe, people feel safe
Community Violence Prevention through Social Cohesion
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Enhance positive social relations between residents
Specific focus on solving local problems
Create action plans to tackle difficult problems
Social programs are proximal – targeted directly within the local neighborhood, not across the whole city.
Empowering Our Communities
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Community Resources
Connect with the organizations helping Denverites thrive.
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Reports & Data
Research our extensive database of public safety data and reports.
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Community Events
Join the community building happening all over the city.