Public Safety
Public Safety
Everyone has a basic right to be free from coercion, exploitation, economic injustice, and violence, including harm imposed by private and corporate degradation of water, air, and soil. We will support a multi-faceted strategy for public safety including law enforcement, intervention and treatment, and universal background checks for firearm purchases. We will support economic justice for all.
We Affirm:
1. We must expand and strengthen background checks for firearm purchases and close dangerous loopholes in our
current laws; and
2. Crimes of sexual violence against women and trans women deserve full and timely investigation, due process, and
serious attention of the legal system; and
3. Public safety is better achieved by providing holistic and trauma-informed responses that emphasize alternative
first responders, such as behavioral health or community outreach professionals. Not every situation is improved
by police intervention; and
4. Indian Nations, Tribes, and Pueblos must be given timely and expeditious access to justice at the Federal level.
We Will:
1. Support the principles and best practices of the Community Policing and Safety models that dedicate resources to
alternative approaches and establish meaningful measures to disentangle police from nonviolent crimes; and
2. Prioritize police resources to address serious threats to public safety by resolving nonviolent crimes without the
threat of arrest, using instead a focus on intervention, prevention, and rehabilitation; and
3. Oppose the sale of assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines by reinstating and strengthening
the national assault weapons ban; and
4. Demilitarize law enforcement; and
5. Support increased training for de-escalation procedures for law enforcement and the use of behavioral community
health and safety teams that are available 24 hours a day. Oppose the use of excessive force by law enforcement;
and
6. Support efforts to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the effects of gun violence as a
public-health issue and apply this data to common-sense gun legislation; and
7. Expand comprehensive services for survivors of violence and increase prevention efforts in our communities and
on our campuses by providing educational and other programs that help shift cultures of violence; and
8. Ensure that all necessary measures are taken to heal and prevent family violence upon relatives, children, and
animals; and
9. Support fully funded crisis triage centers that divert people experiencing mental health episodes from jail and
provide safe houses and psychological counseling 24 hours a day; and
10. Support strong civilian management and community oversight of law enforcement agencies to improve
transparency in the hiring and firing of officers and to make recommendations for disciplinary action, budgets,
and policies; and
11. Repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke dangerous legal immunity
protections for firearm manufacturers and sellers; and
12. Support the enactment and enforcement of aggressive laws against illegal gun trafficking; and
13. Recognize that nuclear material poses inherent risks to safety and encourage stronger safety-focused oversight and
accountability; and
14. Demand continued public access to nuclear safety reports; and
15. Support the continued reduction of nuclear warheads and continued research on nuclear warheads’ safety,
security, and reliability.
