An effective criminal justice system protects people and preserves public safety, respects human dignity, provides restorative justice for victims and perpetrators, removes barriers to opportunity for people with criminal records, and ensures equal justice for all under the law. Protecting public safety also requires input from and partnership with community members. 

However, the current approach to policing in the US often breaks down trust and imposes harm, especially for people of color. Communities and lives are harmed when police engage in situations they are not trained for or that could be better addressed by alternative solutions. To unbundle the all-encompassing nature of policing, we need collaborative, community-based alternatives developed, strengthened, and adapted nationally for a more comprehensive approach to public safety and well-being.

In partnership with MIT Solve, Stand Together Ventures Lab is launching the Unbundle Policing: Reimagine Public Safety Challenge – an Incubator and Accelerator for social ventures focused on decreasing unnecessary law enforcement encounters and resulting adverse outcomes. By launching this Challenge, Stand Together Ventures Lab aims to accelerate a range of better alternatives for point of crisis situations otherwise likely to result in an unwarranted police encounter, emergency room visit, incarceration, injury, or death.