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| Law Enforcement Action Partnership | |
|---|---|
| Name | Law Enforcement Action Partnership |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Former law enforcement professionals |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Type | Nonprofit advocacy organization |
| Focus | Criminal justice reform, public safety, drug policy reform, policing policy |
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
Law Enforcement Action Partnership is an American nonprofit organization composed of current and former police officer, prosecutor, judge, corrections officer, and other public safety professionals who advocate for reforms to criminal justice policy and practice. The group promotes evidence-based approaches to public safety, including alternatives to incarceration, sentencing reform, and public health–oriented responses to substance use and mental health crises. Its members engage with legislators, think tanks, media outlets, and international forums to influence policymaking across city, state, and federal levels.
Founded in 2011 by a cohort of retired and active law enforcement personnel, the organization emerged amid debates over War on Drugs policy, mass incarceration concerns highlighted by reports from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and high-profile incidents such as the Rodney King beating and subsequent reform movements. Early founders included former members of municipal police departments such as the New York City Police Department and state-level agencies like the California Highway Patrol, many of whom had participated in collaborative reform efforts with entities including the Vera Institute of Justice and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The group expanded during the 2010s in response to national dialogues catalyzed by episodes involving the Ferguson unrest, the Department of Justice pattern-or-practice investigations, and federal initiatives such as the Second Chance Act.
The organization states its mission as advancing policies that reduce reliance on arrest and incarceration, improve policing outcomes, and protect public safety while respecting civil liberties. It advocates for reforms aligned with recommendations from bodies like the American Bar Association and the National Academy of Sciences panels on crime reduction. Core goals include promoting alternatives to incarceration such as diversion programs modeled on drug court frameworks, supporting sentencing reform initiatives akin to changes proposed by the Sentencing Project, and encouraging crisis response strategies informed by agencies such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The organization is governed by a board of directors composed of former and current practitioners drawn from municipal and state institutions including former sheriffs from counties represented in the National Sheriffs' Association and retired prosecutors from offices such as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Leadership positions have included executive directors with backgrounds in policy work at think tanks like the Brookings Institution and advocacy groups such as the ACLU. Advisory councils feature academics and former officials from institutions like Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Chicago law faculty, and international partners such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The organization articulates policy positions on policing tactics, drug policy, mental health response, and corrections reform. It has supported decriminalization and regulatory approaches comparable to proposals debated in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures such as those in California and Oregon that reconsider criminal penalties for drug possession. The group endorses use-of-force reforms resonant with recommendations from the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform and supports data-driven practices like those promoted by the Police Executive Research Forum. On corrections, it aligns with calls for sentencing reductions and parole reform advanced by advocates associated with the Sentencing Project and legislative efforts mirrored in the First Step Act.
Programs include public education campaigns, legislative testimony, and community forums modeled on collaborative efforts such as the Community Policing Consortium. The organization conducts speaker series and training modules drawing on curricula from the National Institute of Justice and partners with universities for research dissemination. Initiatives have promoted co-responder models pairing law enforcement with mental health clinicians as seen in pilot programs led by municipal agencies like Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) and have advocated for expansion of diversion options similar to those implemented in jurisdictions like Seattle and King County, Washington.
Funding sources comprise private foundations, philanthropic entities that have supported criminal justice reform including the MacArthur Foundation and the Open Society Foundations, and individual donations from former officials. The organization partners with academic centers such as the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and collaborates with advocacy networks like the Coalition for Public Safety and policy institutes including the R Street Institute and the Urban Institute. It has accepted grants to support research projects in cooperation with municipal pilot programs in cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Critics have questioned the organization's representativeness, arguing that reliance on retired officials skews perspectives toward credentialed insiders rather than community advocates like those associated with the Black Lives Matter movement or grassroots groups in cities such as Ferguson and Baltimore. Some reform advocates and civil rights organizations including chapters of the NAACP and the ACLU have contested certain policy stances, asserting that proposals for incremental reform risk perpetuating policing practices contested in federal litigation, for example cases brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Debates have also arisen over funding transparency when grants originate from philanthropies with ties to broader criminal justice portfolios, an issue raised in discourse involving entities like the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States