Justice System Reform

The Joyce Foundation’s approach to criminal justice system reform seeks to redefine the standard responses to gun crime of aggressive policing, arrests, and incarceration of young adults who commit non-violent gun offenses. These responses have contributed to serious harms in the same communities that struggle with high rates of gun violence, including police shootings, the absence of trust in and legitimacy of the criminal legal system, and mass incarceration of young men of color. Police have an important role to play in investigating and preventing violent crime, especially gun violence, but in many places that role is compromised by lack of trust, leading to low clearance rates for homicides and shootings, and neighborhoods where carrying a gun is seen as necessary for protection – all of which contribute to a vicious cycle of violence. The Foundation works to reform policing and the broader justice system by building police-community trust and legitimacy, reducing the use of force by police officers, and increasing police accountability; and by developing alternatives to arrest and incarceration for young people who commit nonviolent gun offenses. We also work to develop alternatives to arrest and incarceration for young people who commit non-violent gun offenses, and to reimagine public safety.

Goal: Reduce the harms and racial disparities in the criminal justice system’s response to gun violence.

  1. Reform policing to build police-community trust and legitimacy, reduce the use of force by police officers, and increase police accountability
  2. Develop alternatives to arrest and incarceration for young people who commit non- violent gun offenses
  3. Reimagine the future of public safety
Webinar

Emerging Research into Concealed Carry Licensing

Researchers from The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions discussed two new research studies about the changing policy landscape regarding state concealed carry gun laws.

Grantee Spotlight

Collective Engagement for Community Peace: Understanding the Black & Brown Researchers Collective

We caught up recently with Dr. Buggs, one of the nation’s leading experts on community violence intervention and using anti-racist methods to reduce gun violence, about the status of the Collective and what’s to come.

Grantee
Black & Brown Researchers Collective

Webinar

Reimagining Public Safety: Community Listening Sessions with Black Communities and Defenders

A discussion on the report "Reimagining Public Safety: Community Listening Sessions with Black Communities and Defenders" which aims to help build sustainable public safety reforms formed on a responsiveness to community needs.

Webinar

Using Public Funding for Community Violence Intervention Strategies: Successes and Challenges

Panelists discussed new report "Coordinating Safety: Building and Sustaining Offices of Violence Prevention and Neighborhood Safety" which examines the current landscape of Offices of Violence Prevention and identifies policy recommendations.

Grantee Spotlight

Gun Violence Prevention Advocates Reflect on “Aspirational” Work During 11th Annual Vigil

In December 2023, Joyce grantee Newtown Action Alliance held it's 11th annual vigil. Hundreds of survivors, many carrying pictures of fallen loved ones, packed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

Grantee
Newtown Action Alliance