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Criminal justice reform is one of the few public policy issues that receives bipartisan support in Congress and state legislatures. In the nonprofit sector, The Stand Together Foundation, Prison Fellowship, #Cut50 and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are combining research, policy and community-based initiatives to address reform while keeping our communities safe. Postsecondary institutions such as Georgetown University and the University of Virginia are directly involved in the practical work of criminal justice reform, as are historically black colleges and universities. From a research perspective, scholars such as Howard Henderson, a Professor of Justice Administration and Director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University, are conducting research that has improved our understanding of prisons and jails, probation and parole, and mass incarceration.
Bringing about meaningful change to our local, state, and federal criminal justice systems first requires that we analyze what people think about these institutions.
In April 2019, the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO) released its State of Opportunity in America report in partnership with Gallup, the Charles Koch Foundation, and Koch Industries. The report contains information about topics such as crime and criminal justice they gathered from 5,784 people living in some of the most challenging socioeconomic zip codes in 47 states, including residents in the northern and central regions of Appalachia.
A sample of those living in fragile communities in America, which are places characterized by high proportions of residents struggling in their daily lives and possessing limited opportunities for social mobility, includes the following: 71% are people of color and 29% are white; 53% have a household income of $34,999 or less, with the majority earning under $24,000 a year; 51% rent their place of residence; and 13% do not have a high school diploma — though 12% have earned a bachelor’s degree or more. Despite economic and educational challenges, many people in fragile communities want safe neighborhoods for themselves, their children, and their communities at-large.
One intention of the CAO report is to present a more nuanced understanding of how the barriers to opportunity that burden those living in fragile communities relate to crime and criminal justice. We accomplished this goal by asking the people living closest to the issue what they think. Below are responses to three of several questions we asked of 5,784 people living in zip codes with some of the highest crime rates in the nation.
How fairly or unfairly do you think local police treat people like you?
The responses are counterintuitive to the public narrative about policing, as 74% of the people living in fragile communities believe the police treat them fairly or very fairly. At the same time, degrees of fairness vary by race. While two-thirds of blacks and almost three-quarters of Hispanics report fair treatment, 35% of blacks say police treat them unfairly or very unfairly – a much higher rate than whites and Hispanics.
How fairly or unfairly do you think the courts/legal system treat people like you?
Similar to the responses above, fewer people say they are treated either unfairly or very unfairly by the court/legal system than one might expect. This, however, does not mean everyone feels they are treated well. Blacks are more likely to say they are treated unfairly than Hispanics, who in turn report more unfair treatment than whites. Moreover, when data are disaggregated by race in Chicago, IL, Birmingham, AL, Fresno, CA, and the central regions of Appalachia we see interesting differences by race and region.
Would you rather the police spend more time, the same amount of time or less time than they currently spend in your area?
These figures help show the levels of police presence that people in some of America’s most high-crime areas would prefer. For instance, 68% of Chicagoans in fragile communities say they would like the police to spend more time than they currently spend in their area. By this they mean spending more time to get to know the community, to participate in events, and to not only show up after crimes are committed.
By developing a better understanding of barriers and solutions in criminal justice reform, we are better positioned to maximize and expand opportunity through the development and dissemination of research and community-based work in fragile communities across the country.
Rebecca Feldherr is an intern at CAO and an undergraduate at Skidmore College.
By developing a better understanding of barriers and solutions in criminal justice reform we are better positioned to maximize and expand opportunity through the development and dissemination of research and community-based work in fragile communities across the country.
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