The Kentucky General Assembly has passed a law (House Bill 136) that improves the data collection and transparency practices of the state’s criminal justice system.
The bill, crafted with research and expertise from the Georgia Center for Opportunity, addresses the state’s lack of comprehensive data on sentencing, parole, and recidivism. Because of these gaps, policymakers have relied on incomplete data and anecdotal evidence to make serious decisions—ones that are often life-and-death.
The criminal justice system is the primary way government protects families and communities. It’s also the point of intersection between government and citizens when an individual breaks the law and decisions must be made about the future of their liberty and life.
With such high stakes, nothing should be more important and deserving of respect than the criminal justice system and its ability to make informed, just decisions. That’s where HB 136 comes in.
HB 136 equips lawmakers to assess the criminal justice system based on evidence, not anecdotes
The bill requires the state’s Department of Corrections to provide the Kentucky General Assembly with comprehensive data on sentence lengths, parole outcomes, recidivism rates, and demographic data.
Length of stay for first-time offenders: Data on the number of inmates released, average sentence lengths, time served, and parole release rates must all be made available under the bill.
Parolee data and supervision outcomes: This includes demographic information—including race, gender, age, and parental status—plus education levels, gang affiliation, and engagement in rehabilitation programs.
Supervision activities: Drug test results, employment outcomes, housing stability, and program compliance would all be made available.
Recidivism and criminal history trends: Under the measure, the state government would track repeat offenses to evaluate the effectiveness of parole or probation programs.
With this information, elected leaders can make better decisions, improve transparency and accountability in the system, and direct resources to the most successful rehabilitation and reentry programs.
These changes would bolster the downward trend in crime that Kentucky is already seeing this year, thanks in part to implementation of other GCO recommendations in the 2024 Safer Kentucky Act. In Louisville alone, homicides are down 30%, non-fatal shootings have dropped by 40%, and carjackings have plummeted by 43%.
HB 136 turns data into a fairer system and safer communities
With these changes in place, Kentucky communities will have the benefits of enhanced public safety, a fairer system, and improved use of taxpayer dollars.
Reduced recidivism: Access to detailed data on reoffending rates and parole violations allows Kentucky to invest in programs that truly help individuals reintegrate into society, reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses.
Fairer sentencing practices: Analyzing trends in sentencing and parole provides lawmakers with the tools to ensure that policies are applied consistently and equitably—and criminals are appropriately held accountable for their crimes.
Improved public safety: By identifying practices that reduce recidivism and improve parole outcomes, policymakers can enhance community safety and stability.
Better allocation of funding: Tracking incarceration and parole data helps Kentucky allocate resources effectively, ensuring that correctional facilities and rehabilitation programs are adequately funded without unnecessary overspending.
Lower racial and gender disparities: Detailed demographic data illuminates any potential disparities in sentencing or parole practices, enabling targeted reforms to promote equity within the justice system.
While these data practices are new to Kentucky, they are common in other states. Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and even California have implemented similar data-driven approaches and seen positive results. Now Kentucky can join these states as a leader in transforming data into insights that empower lawmakers to shape a better criminal justice system.
Watch GCO’s Testimony on HB 136
Key Points
In 2025, Georgia and many other states have opportunities to address barriers to economic and social mobility.
Key areas include reforming the safety net to encourage work, expanding education opportunity, and adopting policies that lead to safer communities.
These efforts emphasize empowering families, incentivizing work, and fostering safer neighborhoods, demonstrating the crucial role of community-driven solutions in breaking cycles of poverty.
Crime, social and family instability, lack of quality education, and disengagement from work have all contributed to the sense that better futures are slipping out of reach for everyday Americans.
As these challenges persist, leaders and communities are taking notice of how typical government interventions fall short of meeting communities’ long-term needs.
Georgia and many other states have incredible opportunities in 2025 to pursue better solutions that tear down social and economic barriers. Looking to the year ahead, here are a few key opportunities for supporting vibrant communities and flourishing lives in Georgia and beyond.
Elected leaders are looking more closely at barriers to work in the welfare system
With the incoming presidential administration, there’s renewed interest in improving government efficiency. GCO has recommended that addressing the barriers to work in our safety net would be one of the best places to start.
Congress began considering major safety net reforms in 2024 but ran out of time to pass any meaningful policy changes before the end of the year. In 2025, incoming officials have a fresh opportunity to pursue One Door reforms that would allow states to streamline their safety net and work programs. With these reforms, states could reduce systemic barriers that discourage individuals from growing careers and families.
GCO and several of our partner organizations are continuing to educate federal lawmakers on how work-focused reforms can support social and economic mobility for safety net recipients.
But states don’t have to wait solely on federal action to start improving their welfare programs. In 2025, GCO is working alongside several states to help them pursue safety net audits. This process is a first step to identifying inefficiencies and incentives that discourage people from work. It also helps states see where recipients face benefits cliffs—the sudden and often unexpected loss of assistance that occurs with slight increases in wages and leaves recipients financially worse off despite earning more.
In Louisiana, for example, the collaborative efforts of GCO and our partners have guided the state government in identifying ways to enhance their social safety net system. Similarly, our initiatives have inspired lawmakers in Arkansas to push for legislation aimed at evaluating and strengthening the state’s workforce and social services infrastructure.
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BETTER WORK is empowering community-based pathways to employment
While we work to remove policy barriers to employment, our BETTER WORK program is harnessing the power of community to help Georgians connect to immediate job opportunities in their own neighborhoods.
The program’s success in Gwinnett and Columbus counties has shown how employment not only provides income but also restores dignity and purpose. BETTER WORK is set to grow in Gwinnett and Columbus in 2025, and we have begun to collaborate with partners in additional communities that want to use our BETTER WORK model to build their own local efforts to support economic and social mobility.
“Everyone wants to feel that their life matters to someone, that there’s a reason for their existence beyond just getting through each day. Work provides that sense of purpose. It offers us an opportunity to contribute to something bigger than ourselves, connecting us with others who share our values and goals. Through our work, we become part of a collective effort, united in a common purpose.”
— Kristin Barker, Vice President of Workforce Solutions at GCO
Families are getting a new education option with the Promise Scholarship
The Promise Scholarship Program is launching this year, offering families in underperforming school districts the chance to access quality education. Families can use $6,500 scholarships to pursue alternative education options, unlocking opportunities for thousands of Georgia children.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s new budget includes full funding for the program. Once appropriated by the Georgia General Assembly, this funding could help an estimated 22,000 kids who meet the eligibility criteria.
“Adding Promise Scholarships to the menu of Georgia’s schooling options is a positive step toward an education system that honors every child’s unique situation and prevents a lack of quality education from limiting children’s futures. We look forward to working with the Governor and Legislature to see the program fully funded and implemented.”
— Buzz Brockway, Vice President of Policy for GCO
Legislative sessions hold opportunities for policymakers to strengthen public safety
Public safety is the first step to stability and prosperity in our communities. In the 2024 election, voters made it clear that they want elected leaders to take public safety seriously.
The 2025 legislative sessions offer elected officials the opportunity to focus on ensuring police departments are properly funded, sentences for violent offenders are sufficiently severe, and programming in prisons focuses on helping offenders become productive members of society upon release.
GCO is working with Georgia lawmakers to advance a crime reduction package based on our recommendations for restoring community safety in Atlanta. Our public safety expertise is also aiding leaders in Kentucky as they consider a bill to improve data reporting and reduce recidivism in their criminal justice system.
“In the 2024 election cycle, voters once again affirmed they want safe communities, less crime, and criminals held accountable. Though rates of certain violent crimes have fallen in recent years, it’s important to think about this decline as a response to positive policy change. Policymakers cannot take their eye off the ball now.”
— Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives
Communities are getting support to empower strong families
Empowering parents is at the core of our mission. The Raising Highly Capable Kids (RHCK) program equips parents with tools to nurture strong family connections, fostering children’s academic and personal success.
With expansion plans for 2025, we’re excited to bring this life-changing program to even more parents across Georgia, ensuring future generations thrive in stable and supportive environments.
“Empowering parents strengthens the bond between parent and child,” noted Joyce Mayberry, GCO’s Vice President of Family. “When parents feel confident and equipped, they can create a stable and nurturing home environment. This type of environment not only supports children’s well-being but also fosters academic success. Together, these efforts can transform the trajectory of a family’s future. Strong parenting within the home radiates outward, positively impacting neighborhoods, schools, and ultimately building stronger, more resilient communities.”
“When parents feel confident and equipped, they can create a stable and nurturing home environment. This type of environment not only supports children’s well-being but also fosters academic success. Strong parenting within the home radiates outward, positively impacting neighborhoods, schools, and ultimately building stronger, more resilient communities.”
— Joyce Mayberry, Vice President of Family
Kentucky state lawmakers voted Friday to override a veto from Gov. Andy Beshear of House Bill 5, the Safer Kentucky Act. The new law will lower crime by addressing gang-related violence, updating carjacking laws, facilitating successful reentry programs, and more.
The Center for Opportunity’s take: “Although all of Kentucky will benefit from this new law, the positives will be concentrated in poor and low-income communities, where the impacts of crime are felt disproportionately,” said Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives for the Center for Opportunity. “We can’t even begin to discuss the best ways to economically revitalize an area until we address the crime problem. Safe streets lead to thriving communities. The Safer Kentucky Act is a crucial step forward in achieving this end.”
PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA—Yesterday, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House passed H.R. 6655, a Stronger Workforce for America Act, which establishes a crucial demonstration waiver for a handful of states to implement safety-net reforms similar to Utah’s “One Door” policy. As a member of the coalition group the Alliance for Opportunity, the Georgia Center for Opportunity has played an important role in educating lawmakers on the perils of the current social safety net that creates barriers to work and upward mobility.
H.R. 6655 revises the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the first time since 2014. The bill would give four states leeway to explore a “One Door” safety-net reform strategy similar to Utah’s model enacted in the 1990s. Utah consolidated federal workforce development and social safety-net programs into a single state entity and fully integrated the safety-net system into workforce development programs.
“This is an important first step toward improving the social safety-net in all 50 states and breaking down barriers to work and a flourishing life,” said Randy Hicks, president and CEO of the Georgia Center for Opportunity. “The next step is to broaden the scope to allow every state to explore ways to integrate workforce and safety-net programs. These reforms are badly needed. There are 8.9 million open jobs across the U.S., and the workforce participation rate hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. We must create a safety-net system that doesn’t trap people in generational poverty but provides a pathway to a better life.”
Under H.R. 6655, the five-year innovation waiver is only available to states with populations of less than six million and a labor force participation rate below 60%. According to the Alliance for Opportunity, currently only nine states fit the bill: Louisiana, West Virginia, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Maine, Kentucky, and New Mexico.
Under the current version of WIOA, states are barred from implementing such reforms. Utah was grandfathered in and is the only exception.
The bill contains another potential pathway toward a One Door model as well. Three years after enactment of the law, any state’s governor can consolidate workforce programs into one entity, but doing so would require the approval of half of the chairpersons of local workforce boards.
“These reforms would advance the end goal for every work-capable individual in a safety-net program to participate in effective employment and training programs,” added Hicks. “Numerous studies show that the benefits of work extend well beyond finances, encompassing overall wellbeing and a host of other benefits. One Door reforms will help ensure we have a system that encourages people to find work and improve their lives.”
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Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is independent, non-partisan, and solutions-focused. Our team is dedicated to creating opportunities for a quality education, fulfilling work, and a healthy family life for all Georgians. To achieve our mission, we research ways to help remove barriers to opportunity in each of these pathways, promote our solutions to policymakers and the public, and help effective and innovative social enterprises deliver results in their communities.
The Safer Kentucky Act (House Bill 5) is a package of crime-related bills passed by the Kentucky Legislature in 2024. The legislation includes six GCO-recommended solutions for restoring community safety.
The bill lowers crime by addressing gang-related violence, updating carjacking laws, facilitating successful reentry programs, and more.
The Safer Kentucky Act is good news for impoverished communities and at-risk populations, which tend to bear the brunt of increasing violence. These public safety reforms will give communities hope and solutions to break cycles of violence and poverty and have better opportunities close to home.
Kentucky is home to one of the most challenging public safety environments in the country. Even so, the state has made positive changes, thanks to crime reduction policies that have increased police funding and established much-needed programs. Louisville, for example, finished 2023 with a 4% reduction in fatal shootings and an 8% reduction in nonfatal shootings. These were the lowest totals in both categories in four years.
But more needs to be done to ensure residents are free to move about their neighborhoods without fear of personal harm. The urgency has increased, given that homicides in Louisville exploded again in March 2024.
A new law, passed by the Kentucky Legislature in 2024, offers hope for lowering violence and fear in Louisville and across the state. The Safer Kentucky Act (House Bill 5) includes six policy reforms, drawing from GCO’s public safety research, that will restore safety and better opportunities to Kentucky communities.
What is the Safer Kentucky Act?
The Safer Kentucky Act is an omnibus crime bill, which is a type of legislation that combines several proposed policy reforms into a single bill. In the case of the Safer Kentucky Act, all the individual provisions touch on some aspect of public safety.
Proposed reforms cover everything from homelessness to repeat violent offenders. Among these reforms are a handful of changes directly focused on reducing crime and relieving communities of the fear and loss associated with increasing violence.
Higher violent crime rates rob communities of precious lives and lower the quality of life in the most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Higher violent crime rates rob communities of precious lives and lower the quality of life in the most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Six Ways the Safer Kentucky Act Addresses Crime
Establishes strategies to lower gang-related violence
Group Violence Intervention (GVI), also known as focused deterrence, is a gang violence reduction strategy, and when implemented properly, it can have substantial impact.
GVI uses an approach known as “call-ins.” Call-ins bring in groups of active gang members to deliver simultaneous messages of enforcement, resources for gang members to better their lives, and community moral voices expressing the unacceptability of the violence.
Louisville, KY, has operated a GVI program for a few years, but an interpretation of state law prevents probationers and parolees in gangs from being compelled to attend call-ins. Despite GVI strategies existing across the country, Kentucky is the only state with this participation issue. House Bill 5 clarifies state law to allow this kind of program participation.
Updates state law to discourage carjackings
Kentucky has no state law specifically addressing carjacking. When someone commits a carjacking in Kentucky, they face one of two consequences. They may be transferred to federal court and charged with the federal crime of carjacking. Or they could be charged in state court with a combination of assault and robbery.
The absence of a state carjacking law leads to insufficient punishment for too many carjackers. It also makes tracking and data collection around carjacking more difficult.
The data that is available suggests carjackings have risen significantly since 2020.
Passing the Safer Kentucky Act would, for the first time, create a state-level carjacking statute that enables communities to appropriately deal with and discourage carjackings.
Improves parent and guardian involvement in juvenile proceedings
Building on the parental accountability measures in House Bill 3 (passed in 2023), the Safer Kentucky Act contains a provision that would require one parent or guardian to attend proceedings involving their children or child in their custody.
By requiring parents to at least be present at their children’s hearings, the idea is that they may be more involved and invested in the child’s success. While there are few good answers in this area, these parent-focused participatory measures can help make a difference on the margins.
Adds life in prison for repeat violent offenders
KRS 532 is Kentucky’s most narrow violent offender statute. It includes what most people would consider the worst of the worst offenses—murder, manslaughter, serious assaults, rapes, robbery, burglary, and so on.
The Safer Kentucky Act establishes a new “three strikes law” for violations of KRS 532. Conviction of a third offense would result in life imprisonment.
This measure would ensure that the most violent repeat offenders are appropriately punished. Several studies have found that these types of laws reduce crime, so this change will likely help Kentucky lower crime in the future.
Brings witness intimidation laws into the 21st century
House Bill 5 would amend Kentucky’s current statute related to intimidating a participant in the legal process. It expands the statute to include harassing communications (as defined in KRS 525.080), making it easier to prosecute and punish anyone who uses electronic mediums like social media to attempt to intimidate and dissuade witnesses in criminal cases.
Makes sure re-entry works
Our criminal justice system has several purposes, but one of the most important is helping convicts rejoin civil society once they’ve completed their sentences.
Kentucky operates several re-entry programs based on best practices around the country. But do these programs actually reduce re-arrest, re-convictions, and re-incarceration? Right now, we don’t know.
The Safer Kentucky Act would require regular evaluations of re-entry programs—a practice that would ensure effective programs get the support they deserve. It would also reallocate funding away from programs that aren’t reducing recidivism and put it toward new, innovative approaches.
Who would the Safer Kentucky Act help?
Low-Income Families and Communities
The effects of crime disproportionately concentrate in our poorest and most vulnerable communities, keeping them locked in cycles of violence, poverty, and despair. The Safer Kentucky Act is a key step to restoring community safety. When public safety thrives, neighborhoods become homes for the education options, work opportunities, and healthy relationships that lift people out of poverty.
At-Risk Youth and Juvenile Offenders
We know that parental involvement makes a difference in how children’s lives turn out. The Safer Kentucky Act gives juvenile offenders the opportunity to benefit from their parents’ presence as they navigate the criminal justice system and paths for rehabilitation.
Former Inmates
Former prisoners who are re-entering society have the best chance for a fresh start when states invest in reentry programs that have a track record of success. The Safer Kentucky Act will improve the support that ex-offenders receive through the criminal justice system. Ultimately, this empowers them to build stable, meaningful, and independent lives after serving their sentences.
Law Enforcement
The Safer Kentucky Act would give local law enforcement better methods to deal with small populations who tend to be responsible for the majority of crime. The bill also improves the justice system’s ability to help non-violent offenders and ex-offenders get back on a healthy, stable path.
Building off our success in 2023, the new year presents unique opportunities to build better lives for our neighbors through the power of work, education, family, and safer communities.
Our goal is for 2024 to be the year that safety-net reform takes hold in states across the country, while educational freedom becomes a reality at home here in Georgia as Promise Scholarships finally become a reality.
We hope this year will also bring safer communities in big and small cities alike through key public safety reforms.
One word that often comes to mind at the beginning of a new year is “hope.” As 2024 dawns, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is working hard to help everyone — especially the poor and disadvantaged — experience the wonder of hope by envisioning a better future for themselves and their loved ones. They can live better. They can become better.
Time and time again, government has proven that it can’t help people escape systemic, generational poverty. While the safety net is important, viewing it as a way of life saps people of their humanity and unfairly limits their potential. The poor deserve to know that poverty is escapable, not just survivable. And they deserve a helping hand to escape.
These solutions come from homes, neighborhoods, and local communities. This is where aspirations and dreams are born. No handout can substitute for this.
With this vision in mind, we will be dedicating 2024 to making positive changes in a few key areas that greatly affect the quality and trajectory of life for those who are most vulnerable. We built significant momentum last year on a range of issues, and that’s setting the stage for even bigger impact this year.
Here’s some of what’s on tap for us in the new year.
Safety-net reform will yield new opportunities
We’re taking on the safety-net system by advancing reforms in Congress, Georgia, and states across the country to create a more humane system that rewards work and creates a bridge to self-sufficiency.
We should look to Utah as an example of a state in the nation that is leading the way on safety-net reforms. The Beehive State’s One Door policy has integrated human services with workforce services and provides citizens with a single program to work through. Welfare becomes work support, and people have a clear path to get the help they need while receiving education, training, and other support to find employment. This year, working with our Alliance for Opportunity partnership as a platform, we are advancing federal legislation to allow all states to adopt the One Door model—something that federal law currently prohibits. In Georgia, we are working with state policymakers to create a One Door task force so that our state is prepared to implement more holistic safety-net policies, especially when federal law is no longer a barrier.
On a similar front, we are working to educate lawmakers and the public on the problem of benefits cliffs. Put simply, benefits cliffs are when an individual, family, or household loses more in net income and benefits from governmental assistance programs than it gains from additional earnings. This net loss is a perverse incentive that undermines the natural desire to earn more income. Thanks to GCO’s original research, we are crafting program-specific solutions to reduce benefits cliffs in food stamps/SNAP and childcare assistance.
These solutions will build off the momentum created in states like Missouri, which became the first last year to address public assistance provisions, breaking ground in reforming safety-net benefits.
Safety-net programs have a role in helping the most vulnerable in our society. Ultimately, reforms are not about making government more efficient. They are about ensuring safety-net progams serve as a bridge, not a barrier, to better opportunities and futures.
Expanding educational opportunity will benefit all students
Could 2024 be the year that—finally—education opportunity is extended to all of Georgia’s students, not just a privileged few?
Our hope is the answer is yes. We’re fighting to give every child in Georgia access to a quality education as the Georgia Promise Scholarship bill comes back for a final vote in the recently convened 2024 legislative session. Promise Scholarships would give parents $6,500 per student per year to find the right education option for their kids. The bill cleared the state Senate in 2023 but stalled in the House.
Promise Scholarships are the cornerstone of our education agenda in 2024, but they are not the only priority. We are also encouraging lawmakers to expand the ceiling on the tax-credit scholarship, to free up families to transfer students between public schools within districts and in separate districts entirely, and make key improvements to charter school laws.
It’s well past time Georgia caught up with the rapidly growing list of other forward-thinking states that are expanding educational opportunity to all.
Support for parents will strengthen families
This year is an exciting phase for our Raising Highly Capable Kids (RHCK) program, which we launched in 2023 to give communities a better resource for nurturing family stability and well-being.
RHCK is a 13-week evidence-based parenting program designed to build stronger families by empowering parents with the confidence, tools, and skills they need to raise healthy, caring, and responsible children.
A driving factor of long-term poverty is a lack of connection and supportive relationships, especially at home. That’s why we are prioritizing RHCK. At its heart is a curriculum that teaches the building blocks of healthy child development. In 2024, we’re working with partners and schools to expand RHCK. We believe the program will be a powerful way to give parents, caregivers, and educators tools and support to improve kids’ academic achievement, relationships, and overall success in life.
In 2024, the Georgia Center for Opportunity spearheads transformative initiatives, ranging from safety-net reforms and educational advancements to family support and community safety, all geared towards breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering a brighter, more empowered future for individuals and families.
In 2024, the Georgia Center for Opportunity spearheads transformative initiatives, ranging from safety-net reforms and educational advancements to family support and community safety, all geared towards breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering a brighter, more empowered future for individuals and families.
Key reforms will lead to safer communities
Community violence is another barrier to economic opportunity and healthy communities. Individuals and families can only truly thrive when neighborhoods and streets are safe.
Through community collaborations with law enforcement, policymakers, and community leaders, we’ll help Georgia cities like Atlanta and Columbus reverse the tide of rising violence that has been damaging the family bonds, work opportunities, and educational pathways needed to break the cycle of poverty.
Our team is also active in moving forward policy in other states, including California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington State, and Kentucky. In Louisville, for example, our work has helped shape an omnibus crime solution bill, which is expected to pass their state House this year. Louisville is important as a national example because it’s one of the most challenging public safety environments in the country, and solutions that work in this city have a good probability of working elsewhere—including Georgia.
Breaking down employment barriers will transform generations
For those who struggle in poverty, an upwardly mobile job is often the first and best step toward self-sufficiency. That’s why we will continue to work through our BETTER WORK initiative in Gwinnett County and Columbus to build our local support systems to empower men and women to find work. We’ll also cultivate an environment of community safety where business and job opportunities abound.
In Columbus, a new focus for 2024 will be on partnering with local leaders and law enforcement to keep crime from driving away businesses and job opportunities. Meanwhile in Gwinnett, we’re laser focused on building out our network of employer partners, nonprofits, schools, and other community organizations to provide a bridge to a better life for the disadvantaged. And overall, we will continue our partnership with Jobs for Life as well as our mentor program.
In this opinion editorial published in The Washington Times, Joshua Crawford highlights the escalating crime crisis in Washington, D.C., particularly focusing on a significant surge in violent crimes, including a staggering 104% increase in carjackings from the previous year. Crawford points out that a majority of carjacking arrestees in the city are under 18, with many being repeat offenders associated with or recruited by street gangs. The author suggests that Washington can learn from Louisville, Kentucky’s successful efforts to address teen violence. In Louisville, Republican state Rep. Kevin Bratcher spearheaded House Bill 3, a comprehensive measure aimed at holding violent juvenile offenders accountable and providing treatment. The bill mandates immediate detention for juveniles charged with serious violent offenses, offering a disruptive intervention in the cycle of violence. It also allocates funds for a new detention center and treatment programs, including cognitive behavioral therapy.
Violent crime is on the rise in Columbus, Georgia. What are the reasons, and can anything be done to stop it? Those questions are the topic of a new report from the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) focused on Columbus’ recent spike in crime and ideas on how to mitigate it.
Our Columbus Crime Report details six practical solutions that city leaders can use to reduce crime in Columbus and restore safety, hope, and opportunity to the broader community.
Reducing Crime in Columbus: Safer Communities through Policy
“Since 2017, crime has been on the rise in Columbus. And it’s only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Crawford said. “It’s imperative that city and community leaders come together to solve this problem. Our new report provides the groundwork.”
Quick Facts on Crime in Columbus
Columbus saw one of its most violent years with 59 murders in 2021.
The city’s population is on the decline, correlated to the rise in violent crime.
A decrease in Columbus police has gone hand-in-hand with the crime spike.
Attempted murder convicts in Columbus who were released in 2022 only served 35% of their time.
“The human cost of this violence is dramatic, cutting lives short and leaving behind grieving families and fractured communities,” Crawford said. “The toll of violent crime goes beyond the physical cost to those directly impacted and includes financial costs to victims and taxpayers, the loss of productive years, and decreased economic mobility and growth in communities afflicted with high rates of crime.”
Six Policy Recommendations to Reduce Crime
Fixing the Columbus crime problem is about focusing on the most violent offenders. By addressing gang-related violence and solving more homicide investigations, Columbus can restore community safety, improve trust with city officials and law enforcement, and expand upward mobility and opportunity for residents.
Crawford suggests:
Addressing disrepair in Columbus’ communities by expanding cleanup efforts, tearing down or renovating abandoned buildings, and installing adequate street lighting.
Building trust between community residents and law enforcement and social services, particularly through protecting the rights of victims.
Removing egregious offenders from communities by implementing gang-enhancement provisions such as SB44 (2023) that keep these individuals incarcerated.
Improving and requiring pre-entry cognitive behavioral therapy services for all juvenile offenders, no matter how non-violent their offenses.
Reevaluating reentry programs through an external third party, examining the impact on revocation, rearrest, and reconviction.
Josh Crawford is a native of Massachusetts. He went to Penn State for his undergraduate degree and then finished law school in Boston. After a brief stint in Sacramento, California, working in the county district attorney’s office, Josh moved to Kentucky to help start the Pegasus Institute, a nonpartisan organization designed to promote opportunity. In addition to serving as executive director of the organization, Josh had a special focus on criminal justice policy.
“By focusing on public safety and order, we can restore hope and opportunity to rural communities.”
Key Points
There has been a concerning increase in violent crime and homicide rates in California.
Cities like San Francisco and Oakland have been adversely affected by rising crime, leading to economic challenges, a decline in safety perception, and demands for action from various community groups.
Over the years policies and decisions at both the state and local levels are believed to have contributed to the rise in crime. These include changes in sentencing laws, budget reallocations, and the election of progressive district attorneys. However, there is still great potential for political repercussions and the need for innovative solutions to address crime.
A recent headline from the satiricalnews websiteThe Babylon Bee read “California Achieves World’s First Crime Rate Of Zero After Legalizing All Crime.” That piece reads in part:
“This is a great moment for our state,” Governor Gavin Newsom said. “No other state in the nation’s history has successfully brought the crime rate down to nothing. California is once again leading the way! Now, please, for the safety of your loved ones, don’t venture out of your homes at night. Or at least carry an air horn. Whatever. I don’t care.”
Analysts point to the state’s legalization of all criminal acts as the catalyst for reaching a zero crime rate. “It was a bold but revolutionary move,” said Professor Kyle Ray of the California Crime Institute. “California has effectively eliminated all crime from existence simply by making every unlawful or despicable act completely acceptable. Murder, assault, robbery — these are yesterday’s terms. Californians are now truly free to express themselves however they choose. Zero crime!”
Unfortunately, sometimes life comes a little too close to imitating art. In California’s case, de-carceration, de-prosecution, and de-policing has led to a toxic mix that has eroded public safety in the Golden State.
While crime began to crest in many states in 2022, the 2022 Crime in Californiareport shows:
State-wide violent crime was up 6.1% compared to 2021.
Property crime was up 6.2% over the same time period.
The homicide rate increased 23.9% in the five years since 2017.
By contrast, the rates for overall arrests and homicide arrests declined in 2022.
San Francisco and Oakland: California Beacons of Opportunity Turned Cautionary Tales
Two Bay-area cities—San Francisco and Oakland—exemplify California’s public safety decline.
In San Francisco, a destination once regarded as the booming tech hub of the world, rising violent crime, homelessness, and open-air drug markets have led to massive exits from businesses large and small. In fact, the number of fleeing businesses is so large that several media and advocacy groups have developeddatabases of all the companies leaving.
This trend has severely damaged the city’s reputation. A recent Galluppoll found that only 52% of Americans thought San Francisco was safe—down from 70% in 2006. It has also opened San Francisco up to the negative impact that crime has on economic opportunity. As multiple studies have found, violent crime robs communities of job growth and economic mobility—an outcome that tends to hurt disadvantaged communities and low-income residents the most.
Across the Golden Gate Bridge in Oakland, CA, residents have become so tired of unabated violent crime that the local NAACP chapter joined Black religious leaders incalling on city leadership to declare a “state of emergency” over the impact of surging violence on minority communities. They specifically called out “failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police,” as well as the failure to “prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes.”
Bad ideas in Oakland have contributed to a cycle of violence that has trapped low-income residents in places they feel unsafe. The NAACP chapter there is demanding accountability, both of the offenders and of the politicians who placate them. In the first six months of 2023, crime is up 26% overall in Oakland, according to the Oakland Police Department.
How Did California Get Into This Crime Crisis?
How did California get here? A brew of bad policies at the state and local levels over the last decade appears to have finally come to a head.
Beginning in 2011, in response to a lawsuit about prison crowding, the California legislature passed AB 109, “Public Safety Realignment,” which made most property and drug offenses ineligible for state prison sentences and eliminated state parole supervision in most instances in favor of less intensive county options.
Then, in 2014, voters approved Proposition 47, “The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act,” which made all types of theft under $950 and some drug crimes misdemeanors.
In 2016, voters approved Proposition 57, “The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016” which created a system of earned early release that applied to many inmates, including those convicted of rape, gang, and gun crimes.
Finally, in 2020, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in state prisons, Governor Newsom released more than 10,000 inmates back onto the street, many of whom had violent and serious convictions.
At the local level, both San Francisco and Oakland reduced or repurposed portions of their police department budgets amid calls to “defund” the police. In 2020, San Franciscodiverted $120 million from the police department and sheriff’s office budgets over the next two years. In Oakland, the city councilrepurposed $17 million away from the police department in favor of doubling the budget of a civilian crime prevention entity.
And then there are the elected District Attorneys. In San Francisco, progressive defense attorney Chesa Boudin was elected in 2020, along with a wave of other progressive prosecutors around the country with large financial backing. In addition to not prosecuting a host of lower-level crimes, Boudin quickly announced he wouldnot pursue enhanced penalties for gang members. Crime rose dramatically, and Boudin was recalled in 2022.
Shortly after the Boudin recall, Oakland elected district attorney Pamela Price, whopromised to discontinue use of those same enhanced penalties and favor probation over incarceration. She is currently facing the potential of her ownrecall effort.
“MY SON IS DEFINITELY WORTH THAT FIGHT”
The tragic story of Christian Gwynn who was fatally shot as a result of violence is a wake-up call to the need for change in policies that will reduce urban violence.
“MY SON IS DEFINITELY WORTH THAT FIGHT”
Rising Crime Doesn’t Have to be the New Norm in California—or Anywhere Else
Now there is mounting fear of even greater politicalblowback. But political implications aside, it doesn’t have to be this way.
We recently published our first analysis of a city and state’s public safety infrastructure. While this initial report looks at Atlanta, GA, the implications extend to cities and states across the country. Blue and red cities in blue and red states have been innovating and implementing best practices to reduce crime and violence, and these steps are helping several communities restore safety, hope, and opportunity.
For more on how cities and states can get back on the right track, check out the report and recommendationshere.
Josh Crawford is a native of Massachusetts. He went to Penn State for his undergraduate degree and then finished law school in Boston. After a brief stint in Sacramento, California, working in the county district attorney’s office, Josh moved to Kentucky to help start the Pegasus Institute, a nonpartisan organization designed to promote opportunity. In addition to serving as executive director of the organization, Josh had a special focus on criminal justice policy.
“By focusing on public safety and order, we can restore hope and opportunity to rural communities.”
Key Points
A new report reveals Seattle’s murder rate defied national trends with a 13% increase in homicides in 2022.
Washington has veered toward the wrong side of the “crime divide” as violent and property crime have worsened in the wake of recent policy decisions.
Enacting best practices for crime reduction will empower cities like Seattle to reverse the violence.
Homicides were likely down nationwide—about 4% according toone report—in 2022. But declining national numbers only tell part of the story. Families and individuals don’t live in “the nation.” They live in specific communities that are much smaller. Unfortunately, the homicide declines experienced in the aggregate did not translate evenly across these communities.
Seattle’s Murder Rate Goes Opposite the National Decline
2022 began what we have referred to as “the great crime divide” in which some cities saw dramatic decreases in homicide—40% in Richmond, VA, and 11% in Austin, TX, for example—while other cities continued to see increases in homicides. One of those cities, Seattle, WA, saw a 13% increase in homicides in 2022 compared to 2021.
A recently releasedannual crime report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs further details this increase and shows a 15% rise in homicides statewide in Washington, once again setting a record for murders. Equally troubling, aggravated assaults, robberies, and car thefts were also up statewide. Car thefts are typically a good proxy for property crime because they have such highreporting rates relative to other property offenses.
Seattle’s Crime Problem Is a Policy Choice
Once again, it’s clear that rising crime is a policy choice. Beginning in2020, the Seattle City Council voted two years in a row to cut police funding and are nowdown more than 350 police officers due to resignations and early retirements. Seattle has also become one of the national standard-bearers for “revolving door” justice. The Seattle Times used a2022 arrest to highlight the problem.
Cuong Cao, was, as of Friday, still loose, described now by a federal justice spokesperson as a “fugitive.” There’s no reason for him to be a fugitive though, because he was arrested at 12th and Jackson last month, after police say they watched him selling fentanyl pills on the sidewalk and then crouching over a woman who was overdosing.
When Cao was booked, he was carrying heroin, meth and 88 “blues” — street slang for fentanyl pills — along with $800 in cash and a Canik 9-mm pistol. He’s got a slew of felony convictions for burglary, car theft and drug dealing, and he’s had 39 arrest warrants going back 20 years because of a propensity to not show up in court.
Yet he was out of jail 45 hours later on just $2,500 bail, down from the $75,000 requested by prosecutors.
State policymakers have also played a role in exacerbating Washington’s crime problem. In 2021 they passed into law two “police reform” bills (here andhere) that limited pursuits, use of force, and other tactics in a way that likely discouraged proactive policing. But the bad ideas roll on. Legislators have filed, but not yet passed bills that allow forearly release for violent felons andreduce penalties for drive-by shootings. Passage of these measures would only make a bad situation worse, and further push Washington state down the path to more crime and more disorder.
The tragic story of Christian Gwynn who was fatally shot as a result of violence is a wake-up call to the need for change in policies that will reduce urban violence.
The tragic story of Christian Gwynn who was fatally shot as a result of violence is a wake-up call to the need for change in policies that will reduce urban violence.
Reducing Crime is Essential to Building Vibrant Communities
As I wrote inthis op-ed for Newsweek, there’s a direct link between rising crime and the well-being of our communities: “When communities become less safe, they become less prosperous. Our poorest residents end up shouldering the burden.”
Whether it’s Seattle, Atlanta, or any other city struggling with increasing violence, getting serious about reducing crime is more than a policy decision. It’s an act of compassion, especially toward the most vulnerable in our communities.
While bad decisions have led to increased crime, enacting best practices at the local and state level not only reverse Washington’s current trajectory but can meaningfully reduce violent and serious property crime so that Washingtonians can lead safer, more fulfilled lives.
Josh Crawford is a native of Massachusetts. He went to Penn State for his undergraduate degree and then finished law school in Boston. After a brief stint in Sacramento, California, working in the county district attorney’s office, Josh moved to Kentucky to help start the Pegasus Institute, a nonpartisan organization designed to promote opportunity. In addition to serving as executive director of the organization, Josh had a special focus on criminal justice policy.
“By focusing on public safety and order, we can restore hope and opportunity to rural communities.”
