No "Crime Bill" Sign-On Letter

Public safety decisions made today will shape our communities for decades. We’ve seen what works — investing in prevention, support, and evidence-based solutions — and we’ve seen what doesn’t. Fear-based policies and harsher punishments alone have never delivered lasting safety, yet a new "crime" bill is being considered that risks repeating those same failures.

We must make it clear: We will not support a return to ineffective “tough on crime” policies.

Add your name or your organization to this sign-on letter and stand with leaders across the country calling for public safety policies rooted in data, evidence, and real solutions — not political narratives.

Together, we can protect the progress we’ve made and ensure no new "crime bill" takes that away.

Reject Harmful Tough-on-Crime Policies!

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We, the undersigned organizations and members of Dream.Org’s Empathy Network, representing communities, public health and safety advocates, faith leaders, service providers, researchers, and criminal justice reform organizations across the country, write to urge Congress to reject federal policies that returns our nation to the failed “tough-on-crime” policies of the past.

The facts are clear: the United States is experiencing a historic and dramatic decline in violent crime. According to recent reports from the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Council on Criminal Justice, America is experiencing the sharpest drop in homicides in recorded history, with other major crime categories seeing similar reductions. This is the fourth consecutive year of declining crime, with each year showing larger reductions than the last. This is not a localized or isolated trend. The decline is national, in red and blue states, and in urban, suburban and rural communities.

As researchers have noted, the most consistent explanation for the nationwide drop is the stabilization and recovery that followed the extraordinary disruptions of COVID and the period that immediately followed. Importantly, federal investments played a key role in that recovery. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided broad-based support to states and localities, helping communities restore essential services, retain teachers, fund counselors, hire public safety personnel, and stabilize local governments. It is important to note that ARPA funding was issued to communities across the country, which aligns with the nationwide nature of the crime decline. In other words, when communities were supported and resourced, violence declined.

The last few years have shown that in America we can have both safety and justice, and now is not the moment to turn away from that. A new federal crime bill that emphasizes harsher sentencing, expanded incarceration, rollbacks of bail reform, reduced judicial discretion, or punitive measures targeting states and localities would ignore both the data and the lessons of the past. The 1980s and 1990s “tough-on-crime” era produced mass incarceration, destabilized families, strained public budgets, and inflicted generational harm - without delivering sustainable public safety gains. We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes.

Research consistently shows that stable employment, access to health care, substance use treatment, mental health services, housing stability, and community-based violence intervention programs contribute to reductions in violence. Investments that strengthen communities - rather than policies that simply increase punishment - are what produce durable safety. We should keep investing in communities, not resorting to fear-based policymaking or political theater.

Congress now faces a clear choice.

We need America to endorse policies that history has already shown to be ineffective and deeply harmful. Or we need to continue the progress of the past six years — protecting and expanding the proven initiatives that are helping to drive down violence across the country.

We urge:

The rejection of any federal crime legislation that expands mandatory minimums, increases incarceration without evidence of effectiveness, or penalizes states and localities for implementing reform.
The protection and strengthening of funding for evidence-based crime reduction initiatives, including community violence intervention, reentry support, mental health and substance use services, and youth programs.
The maintenance and expansion of investments that stabilize local governments and address the root causes of violence.
That all public safety policymaking is based on credible national data and research, not political narratives.

The American people deserve policies rooted in evidence, not ideology. They deserve continued progress, not a return to failed approaches.

We stand ready to work with you to advance public safety strategies that are effective, equitable, and sustainable. We respectfully oppose any crime bill that abandons these principles.

Sincerely,

We, the undersigned organizations/Members of the Empathy Network