Public Safety for All
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Initiative Overview
History of the Public Safety for All (PSFA) Initiative
The Department of Racial and Social Justice (RSJ) was created in 2020, evolving out of years of prior work to re-envision public safety in Somerville. In June of 2020, former Mayor Joseph Curtatone declared systemic racism a public health emergency in Somerville.
Under Mayor Ballantyne’s leadership, RSJ was tasked with designing and leading a multi-tiered, community-driven initiative to create and shape public safety policies and engagement that advances racial and social justice across all economic classes, ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and identities.
The Public Safety for All initiative embodies the values of equity, transparency, accountability, innovation, and social justice. The vision of the combined efforts of the PSFA initiative is to have a tailored public safety system that encompasses the current needs of this diverse community while intentionally thinking about prevention, intervention, and after-care.
Central to this initiative was understanding and defining public safety in the context of Somerville. After all, what do we consider public safety? RSJ began this work with the understanding that public safety meant more than just how police, fire, and medical responders respond to emergencies. While hosting focus groups with community members, City partners, local organizations, elected officials, and through canvassing throughout the City, it became abundantly clear that public safety not only means more, but each person’s view of public safety looks different.
For example, how do drivers, bikers, and pedestrians feel navigating public spaces? How do residents of different wards differ in their perceptions of safety in their neighborhood at night versus during the day? How do residents and those who work in Somerville feel they could be better served by emergency responders? How safe do community members feel in a park alone? Does the Somerville Police Department treat people in your neighborhood with respect?
Public Safety for All Survey
These questions, and many more, prompted RSJ to launch the Public Safety for All Survey in September of 2022. The Public Safety for All Survey was structured to meet the community and our constituents where they are: from policing to emergency communications to traffic safety and more, the survey collected comprehensive, evidence-based data from Somerville community members about their perceptions of public safety, how it could be improved, and where it must be improved.
Offered in seven languages, the 24 questions enclosed in the PSFA Survey prompted our community to interrogate important questions like their perceptions of policing, changes to their feelings of safety in the City, their top-five concerns, and more. In many respects, these efforts paid off: the PSFA Survey was one of the most statistically representative surveys conducted in Somerville’s surveying history.
Now, equipped with data unique to Somerville and its residents’ public safety concerns, RSJ launched the Public Safety for All Task Force, the Civilian Oversight Task Force, and the Anti-Violence Working Group.
The Task Forces/Working Group
In early 2023, Mayor Ballantyne and the Department of Racial and Social Justice put out a call for community members to apply to join these groups. In spring 2023, each group launched, and the selected Somerville residents were joined by subject matter experts, members of the City Council, local service providers, and emergency responders. Each group’s focus represented a different prioritized segment of public safety:
- The Public Safety for All Task Force was tasked with focusing on two key areas:
- Drafting recommendations that will inform the adoption of an alternative, co-response, and/or unarmed response model to address calls for service and identified public safety needs in Somerville.
- Drafting recommendations that will help and improve Somerville’s public safety infrastructure at large.
- The Civilian Oversight Task Force was tasked with producing recommendations that could outline establishing the City’s first-ever civilian oversight entity, including its powers, duties, composition, and more.
- The Anti-Violence Working Group was tasked with producing recommendations that focused on mitigating four types of violence in the City, specifically: gun and gang violence, domestic violence, and traffic violence.
Below, you will find the final reports from each of the Public Safety for All Initiative groups. You can also visit each group’s page to find prior updates and resources from the course of their work:
- Public Safety for All Task Force webpage
- Civilian Oversight Task Force webpage
- Anti-Violence Working Group webpage
Public Safety for All Task Force Final Report
Civilian Oversight Task Force Final Report
Anti-Violence Working Group Final Report
Public Safety for All Report Release Event
As part of the release of these materials, RSJ is hosting a report release event on Tuesday, February 4th at the Somerville High School.
Event details:
- Date: February 4th, 2025 (rain date February 6th, 2025)
- Location: Somerville High School Cafeteria, 81 Highland Ave
- Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
We are inviting community members to join representatives from the Task Forces and Working Group to discuss the reports, next steps in the process, and to field thoughts or questions from those in attendance. Community members – yourself included – are invited to submit questions to be considered for discussion at the event now through February 3rd at 12 p.m. on this Jotform.
Meet the Members
Resources
PSFA Preliminary Results Presentation
The RSJ Department presented preliminary findings before the Somerville City Council on Tuesday, November 21st, 2023. View the presentation below (starts at 1:23:00):
PSFA Open Dataset
You can now download and explore the PSFA Open Dataset. To learn more and access the data, visit:
PSFA Tableau Visualizations
Take a deep-dive into the PSFA data through our Tableau Dashboard. Try creating your own visualizations and exploring the results!
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