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About Urban Peace Institute

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood. Rooted in nearly 20 years of advancing the field of community violence intervention, UPI leads with the knowledge that to achieve safety we must build new systems that transform our approach to justice. We know that without justice there is no real safety, and without safety, communities cannot fully thrive. As our co-founder Connie Rice often states: “The first of all civil rights is safety, because without safety, you don't have any of the others, and the first of all freedoms is freedom from violence.” We believe this includes all forms of violence, including community violence, and systemic harms such as police brutality and incarceration—all of which disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities. For too long, the dominant narrative has claimed that police and prisons make us safe. Yet the very communities most heavily policed and punished continue to experience the highest levels of violence, economic instability, and loss. Based in Los Angeles, UPI works alongside communities around the country to build power, invest in local leadership, and innovate policy to create systems that keep people safe and counter the harms of policing and incarceration. We believe in a better way, where investments are made in people, not prisons. To reimagine safety and justice, UPI is not simply reforming the broken systems that have oppressed and harmed our most vulnerable communities. We are at the forefront of building a new community-led safety and justice infrastructure rooted in care, dignity, and freedom. Innovation is built with community, not imposed on it. Lived experience and deep knowledge of local challenges are the foundation for impactful solutions that respond to the distinct needs of each neighborhood. Guided by our belief that everyone deserves peace, we are creating a model of safety and justice that works for all.

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