Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

Decades of evidence show that so-called tough-on-crime policies devastate communities and don’t deliver safety. Yet, the United States still puts a greater percentage of its population behind bars than almost any other country. If mass incarceration prevented harm, the United States would be one of the safest nations in the world. Instead, we have higher rates of crime than several countries that arrest and incarcerate far fewer people.

A growing number of people recognize that the path to true public safety is to prevent crime by investing in healthy communities, not by locking people up. The total U.S. incarcerated population, while still unconscionably high, has declined more than 20 percent from its peak in 2008, when close to 2.3 million people were held behind bars. In 2023, Vera worked hard to build on this momentum by reforming, reducing, and remaking criminal legal and immigration systems that have harmed far too many. By shrinking the machinery of mass incarceration, we are freeing up resources for investments toward true public safety.