What is 'Community safety: Reimagined' about?
The increasing attentions of law enforcement and criminal justice institutions on the safety of young people from marginalised and racialised communities in recent years are at odds with their experiences of encounters with police. They are simultaneously overpoliced and underprotected from the risk of violence. This is a problem because, contrary to the assertions of police chiefs, the targeting of communities through increased stop and search activity too often raises the chance of criminalising young people’s futures rather than saving them.
And given the persistent racial disparity in stop and search figures – in 2023/24, young Black adults were searched 4.8 times more often than their white counterparts – there is a desperate need to provide young people from racialised communities with the opportunities to process their experiences of profiling and express the ways in which the police make them feel less safe, and to support self-generated initiatives which offer respite from the chronic under-investment in non-punitive solutions to youth violence. As one individual told us, those meant to protect us ‘are destroying people’s lives at the expense of hiding discrimination’.
This is why we partner with frontline social action groups in overpoliced communities to achieve positive social change, free of the shackles of law enforcement. We want to support young people to overcome their experiences, giving voice to their lived experience and a sense of empowerment and social justice.
The time has come to reimagine what safety looks life for marginalised communities. Our proposal offers a model for doing just that.
Read about our programme of events below.