Wall Street Journal Features Newark Public Safety Collaborative's Community-Centered Approach to Crime Prevention

In a story focusing on alternative policing methods, the Wall Street Journal featured the Newark Public Safety Collaborative's successful efforts to work with city officials and community groups to reduce crime in hot spot areas.

Since Tyre Nichols was killed by police in Memphis last month, attention has been focused on preventing crime without potentially contributing to incidents of police brutality.

The piece, which quoted professors Joel Caplan and Alejandro Gimenez-Santana of the collaborative, part of RU-N's School of Criminal Justice, centered on Dallas and Newark as examples of cities that focus on hot spots but share information with community groups to help solve problems.

Caplan said when police look at crime data, they will come up with law enforcement solutions. But when the community sees the data, “responses are much more comprehensive and multifaceted.''

Reporter Joe Barrett attended a meeting of the collaborative and community groups at Express Newark and included a description: 

"....the Newark Public Safety Collaborative, which is spearheaded by academics and includes social-service agencies, hospitals, schools, police and the city, talked about installing new streetlights and figuring out why bodegas seem to be magnets for crime,'' the story reported.

Read the full story here.