Safer Cities is an organization that promotes left-of-center criminal justice policies primarily focused on harm reduction. One of Safer Cities’ contributors is Tracy Schmaler, the former head of the Office of Public Affairs under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in the Obama administration. ^{1 2 3}

Safer Cities is, or at one time was, a project of the Players Philanthropy Fund. ⁴

Newsletter

Safer Cities (not to be confused with the urban planning consulting firm of the same name) publishes a biweekly newsletter usually consisting of short summaries of links to news articles regarding urban crime. ⁵

Views

Safer Cities promotes left-of-center criminal justice reform policies, including less-violent alternatives to police response units, behavioral intervention programs, and public Narcan distribution centers. ⁵

For example, a July 2024 newsletter advocated for summer job programs and behavioral health crisis centers as a means of decreasing crime. A June newsletter advocated for a “mental health option” on 9-1-1 calls. An April newsletter advocated for “trauma recovery centers” for crime victims and for mental health experts to handle more 9-1-1 calls. ⁵

Safer Cities Coverage Map

Safer Cities publishes an updating map that shows the locations of recommended safety and health services. For instance, the map highlights a Narcan vending machine in Lebanon, Missouri; a Community Violence Intervention Program in Charleston, South Carolina; and a School-Based Violence Intervention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ⁶

Leadership

Tracy Schmaler is a contributor to Safer Cities and the founder of Oxbow, a political consulting firm based in Washington D.C. Previously, Schmaler worked as the managing director of Kivvit, a similar consulting firm, for over eight years. Earlier, Schmaler worked at the U.S. Department of Justice for over four years where she led the Office of Public Affairs under Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder. She also worked for Democrats in the U.S. Senate as well as at technology firm Yahoo!. ^{1 2 3}

Justin Levinson is a contributor to Safer Cities and a law professor at the University of Hawaii. Levinson promotes the controversial concept of implicit bias related to the legal system and formerly served as the lead editor of “Implicit Racial Bias Across the Law.” In 2008, Levinson founded the Culture and Jury Project to study “human decision-making in the law.” Levinson’s work has appeared in the New York University Law Review, the Yale Law Journal Forum, the University of California Los Angeles Law Review, and Duke Law Journal, and has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. ^{1 7}

Jonathan Chavez is a contributor to Safer Cities and a statistician. He is also an advisor to the Justice Research Fund, which is “a project that funds and performs qualitative and quantitative research on issues related to crime and public safety.” ^{1 8}

Matt Ferner is a contributor to Safer Cities and journalist. He previously worked as a reporter for HuffPost reporting on politics and policing. ^{1 9}

Funding

According to the website of the Just Impact Fund, Safer Cities operates or operated under the fiscal sponsorship of the Players Philanthropy Fund, an organization that provides financial services to unregistered nonprofits. ⁴ However, as of July 2024, Safer Cities is not listed on the Players Philanthropy Fund’s website as a project. ¹⁰

Safer Cities has received funding from the Just Impact Fund through the Players Philanthropy Fund. ⁴

1. “About Safer Cities.” Safer Cities. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://safercitiesresearch.com/about.
2. “Tracy Schmaler.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-schmaler-6060516/.
3. “Homepage.” Oxbow. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.oxbow-consulting.com/.
4. “THE JUST IMPACT FUND.” Just Impact Fund. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.justimpactadvisors.org/fund-intro#grantees.
5. “The Latest.” Safer Cities. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://safercitiesresearch.com/the-latest.
6. “Safer Cities Coverage Map.” Safer Cities. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://safercitiesresearch.com/map.
7. “Justin D. Levinson.” University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Law. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://law.hawaii.edu/people/justin-d-levinson/.
8. “About Our Advisors.” Justice Research Fund. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://justiceresearchfund.com/.
9. “Matt Ferner.” The Point. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://theappeal.org/authors/matt-ferner/.
10. “Projects.” Players Philanthropy Fund. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.ppf.org/all-projects.