To tackle crime, spend less on prisons and more on people

With two months until Election Day, crime and criminal justice have emerged as core issues for campaigns up and down the ballot. Candidates across the political spectrum are eager to present themselves as tough on crime, particularly in the presidential election. 

Last month, former President Donald Trump vowed to “make America safe again” through an increase in policing and the use of the death penalty, while Vice President Kamala Harris has honed a stump speech that positions her as a tough prosecutor who has made a career of holding “convicted felons” accountable.   

With campaign rhetoric dominating the news cycle, it can be hard to tell which tactics will lead to real results. But it is clear that people want action: A recent Gallup poll indicates that 79 percent of Americans worry about crime and violence, and the majority of Americans believe our justice system is not tough enough. 

Even though violent crime rates have fallen back to their pre-pandemic levels, lawmakers are under pressure to help their constituents feel safe — so jurisdictions from San Francisco to Louisiana are rolling back reforms and increasing sentences.  

Instead of ineffective policies, policymakers who are serious about public safety should look at evidence-based solutions rooted in decades of data, which emphasize economic stability, early intervention and community involvement. These options are our best opportunity for long-term community safety.    

Community violence intervention programs have proven to be successful models, even in the current political climate. Notably, Philadelphia and Baltimore have implemented holistic community violence intervention programs that have improved public safety.   

In Philadelphia, former mayor Jim Kenny and his administration created a group violence intervention program that connected individuals at risk for gun violence to jobs and city services. A 2023 evaluation revealed that this program, which was launched in 2020, reduced shootings among participants by about half.    

Baltimore experienced similar success when Mayor Brandon Scott made community violence intervention a cornerstone of his broader violence reduction strategy.

The strategy identified individuals at high risk for violence and then deployed community partners to connect them to community resources. Early studies showed the initiatives reduced homicides and shootings in Baltimore’s Western District by 25 percent and decreased carjackings by about a third. The city paired this strategy with other measures, including a gun buyback program to reduce the number of guns, which is proven to increase community safety.   

To signal its support for programs like those in Philadelphia and Baltimore, last year the Biden administration announced a $5 billion investment in community violence interventions.   

Community violence intervention programs are promising, but they’re a fraction of the policies that could reduce crime: Research has shown that everything from job programs to continued access to Supplemental Security Income for youth who have aged out of the program to basic income and stable housing could help.   

Unfortunately, instead of turning to evidence-based reforms, many cities and states have been returning to policies that simply do not work well. Long sentences increase the prison population, but they do not prevent crime: People who serve long sentences are more likely to commit more crimes in the future. 

In addition, high incarceration rates and long sentences are expensive, costing the government and the families of justice-involved people as much as $182 billion a year. That’s more than double what the federal government spends on elementary and secondary education.   

Most of these policies — from increased surveillance to lengthy prison sentences to the emphasis on low-level crime — weigh heavily on communities of color. Police are more likely to stop, search and arrest Black people; juries are more likely to convict people of color and communities of color are more likely to face the poverty that creates the conditions suitable for crime.  

Studies continue to demonstrate the American public wants smarter, more effective approaches toward crime and criminal justice. To reduce crime and increase public safety, turning toward evidence-based solutions that emphasize early intervention and community involvement offers the best opportunities for success. 

By addressing the underlying causes of crime, employing evidence and involving communities, we can create safer, more secure environments for everyone.   

Sarah Rosen Wartell is president of the Urban Institute. David Pitts is vice president for justice policy at the Urban Institute.