Opinion: The smartest public safety investment New York can make

City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers. File photo Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit

By Selvena N. Brooks-Powers and Megan French-Marcelin

New York City is at a defining moment in our approach to public safety where we must confront a reality that has become increasingly clear: we cannot incarcerate our way out of the structural inequities that cause so many New Yorkers to become entangled with the criminal legal system in the first place.

For decades, communities across our City—particularly Black and brown communities—have endured the consequences of disinvestment in the resources and opportunities we all need to survive and thrive. Far too often, incarceration has been used as the default response to the resulting social and economic challenges like housing instability, unemployment, and untreated mental health and substance use conditions. But jail was never designed to be the solution.

To be clear, reducing reliance on incarceration does not mean compromising public safety.

Evidence increasingly shows that the smartest public safety investments are those that address the underlying factors that drive criminal legal system contact to begin with. New Yorkers deserve approaches that simultaneously recognize this truth, hold people accountable, and reduce the likelihood of future system involvement.

We know the path forward: community-based alternatives to incarceration (ATI) and post-release reentry programs are proving every day that public safety and decarceration are not competing goals. Rather, these programs demonstrate just how deeply connected these priorities are.  

ATI and reentry programs importantly provide accountability while also ensuring people are connected to the housing, employment, treatment, education, and other community supports they need: the very resources and opportunities that help stabilize individuals’ lives, strengthen families, and enhance entire neighborhoods.

A recent cost-benefit analysis of providers within the NYC Alternatives to Incarceration and Reentry Coalition conducted by John Jay’s Data for Justice Collaborative shows just how effective these programs are. In just one year, participants served by Coalition providers avoided an estimated 267,121 days of incarceration, generating approximately $131.9 million in avoided jail and prison costs. And even after accounting for the approximate $28.3 million in annual ATI program costs, the net savings totaled more than $103 million.

This translates to taxpayers saving approximately $4.70 for every dollar spent on ATIs. At a time when New Yorkers are demanding both safety and fiscal responsibility, these findings should command our attention.

But the value of ATI programs cannot be measured by dollars alone.

As a result of avoiding prison and jail time, researchers estimate that program participants also avoided more than 900 collateral consequences that would have impacted their ability to obtain secure housing, gainful employment, educational opportunities, and other supports critical to long-term stability and productivity. 

The reality is that collateral consequences of incarceration often follow individuals long after they’re released from incarceration. Even a short jail stay can cost someone their job, destabilize housing, interrupt vital treatment, and separate families. Moreover, an arrest or conviction record can create significant barriers to employment and educational opportunities for years to come. Thus, on top of saving taxpayer dollars, ATI programs help prevent these devastating outcomes from ever taking hold while also reducing the likelihood that people will cycle back into the system. Not only does this approach yield better outcomes for individuals and their families, but it is a smarter public safety strategy for our City as a whole.

Notably, John Jay's analysis reflects only a sample of the ATI and reentry landscape in our City as the Coalition providers included in the study represent just a portion of the many community-based organizations doing critical ATI and reentry work across the five boroughs. This means that the true fiscal savings and public safety benefits associated with ATI programming citywide are likely substantially greater.

Finally, if New York City is serious about making good on meeting its legal and moral obligation to close Rikers Island, we must substantially increase our investments in these promising programs.

ATI programs reduce reliance on costly incarceration. They address people’s underlying needs before they escalate into deeper system involvement. They produce measurable savings for taxpayers, and they help New Yorkers connect to the supports they need to contribute positively to our shared communities.  

Most importantly, ATIs affirm a simple but powerful truth: lasting public safety is built through opportunity, stability, and investment in people.

We know what works. Now, we must have the courage and commitment to scale it.

Selvena N. Brooks-Powers is a city councilmember and the chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, and Megan French-Marcelin, is the Legal Action Center’s senior director of New York policy and the chair of the NYC ATI and Reentry Coalition.