Reimagining Public Safety and Wellbeing Panel Presentation & Community Forum

March 31, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Campus Center Executive Dining Room

Despite data that illuminates that violent crime and property crime have decreased at both State and national levels, many people鈥檚 perception is that crime has increased. The public鈥檚 concern about crime is valid, though much of that concern is often driven by the media鈥檚 outsized focus on prominent murders and sensational violent crimes. Community members and especially state legislators frequently believe and argue that the answer to crime is increases in policing and harsher punishment. However, studies have shown that not only do policing and incarceration create significant financial burdens for communities but they also generate more harm and violence, particularly for those who are often targeted through increased policing and sentencing: marginalized groups including people of color, the poor, the mentally ill, substance dependent, and disabled persons, among others. While policing may deliver some crime reduction effects, it comes at a high cost. Police use of force is increasing here and throughout the nation, as are injuries and deaths caused by police. Police accountability is generally lacking, while police commit a substantial proportion of overall crime. And the money that communities spend on policing cannot be spent on proactive measures that have greater preventive potential. Most importantly, policing acts as a conduit to incarceration, often of those who pose little or no threat to the public. We must take seriously the Hawai鈥榠-based numbers revealing that prior to being placed in jail, approximately 30% of are houseless, close to 50% have been diagnosed with mental illnesses, and 86% are in need to substance abuse treatment at some level. Countering its proposed aim, incarceration actually exacerbates harm and violence rather than halting it. Harm is perpetuated by separating loved ones from each other, exposing incarcerated individuals to violence and trauma from guards and other inmates, and stigmatizing people in a way that makes successful reentry into communities nearly impossible. Designed as a primer for both education and community conversation, this forum will take people鈥檚 very real concerns about crime into account while also presenting alternative ways to address public safety and wellbeing. For instance, diversion strategies like comprehensive, supportive housing and substance abuse treatment can significantly lower levels of incarceration. Having mobile crisis units with trauma-informed social workers and paramedics respond to cases of domestic violence, drug overdoses, or mental health episodes would also lessen the burden on police to intervene in issues that other professionals are likely better equipped to handle. After the panel presentation, there will be time for questions and answers. *Sponsored by the 91精品黑料吃瓜M Department of Sociology, with co-sponsorship from the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, the Hawai鈥榠 Innocence and Beyond Guilt Project, and the Reimagining Public Safety in Hawai鈥榠 Coalition.


Event Sponsor
Department of Sociology*, Mānoa Campus

More Information
808 956-7693, socdept@hawaii.edu, 91精品黑料吃瓜M Reimagining Public Safety 2025 (PDF)

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