DC Justice Lab

Developing smarter safety solutions that are evidence-driven, community-rooted, and racially just. linktr.ee/dcjusticelab

06/05/2026

Yesterday, we held our 2nd Annual Volunteer Appreciation Trivia Night, featuring questions all about DC and bringing together volunteers, staff, and supporters for an evening of fun, connection, and friendly competition. We believe in taking the time to acknowledge the individuals who support this work behind the scenes.

Our work toward a safer, freer DC is made possible by people who give their time - lawyers, advocates, researchers, and community members who contribute their skills and energy without compensation or recognition because they believe in the work.

This work is collective, and so is the responsibility to sustain it.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for the time, expertise, and commitment you bring to this work.

Watch highlights from our Volunteer Appreciation event.

06/03/2026

DC Justice Lab was built on the belief that DC deserved more than fear-driven public safety policies, overpolicing, and systems that excluded the voices of the people most impacted.

Since then, with the steadfast support of loyal people, this work has helped push forward new conversations, new policies, and new possibilities across the District. From policing and incarceration to reparations, record relief, civic engagement, and community-rooted approaches to safety, we’ve been committed to advancing justice in our community.

This Impact Report reflects years of research, organizing, advocacy, coalition building, public education, and policy work rooted in one core idea: the people closest to harm should not be left out of the conversations shaping public safety in DC.

None of this work happened alone.

Every investment in DC Justice Lab — every grant, donation, partnership, collaboration, testimony, volunteer hour, and shared resource — has been an investment in safer solutions grounded in evidence, accountability, racial equity, and community.

To everyone who supported, funded, partnered with, challenged, amplified, and believed in this work: thank you.

We invite you to flip through the report and reflect on what has been built together — and the work still ahead.

Read the full Impact Report of DCJL’s First Five years!

🔗https://dcjusticelab.org/our-impact/

06/02/2026

A letter from our CEO on DC Justice Lab's 6th Anniversary...

Dear DC Justice Lab Team & Board,

Happy six years!

This week, we celebrate six years of DC Justice Lab.

I feel incredibly honored to celebrate this milestone alongside our team and board. What began as a bold vision has grown into a trusted force for research, advocacy, evidence-driven and community-centered policy solutions, and narrative change.

At our core is a simple belief: DC's Black residents deserve better. Better policies. Better investments. Better outcomes. And for the last six years, the DCJL team and board have worked tirelessly to turn that belief into reality.

Each day, our team advances this mission with a drive and commitment that I deeply admire. Your skills, experiences, ideas, and relentlessness are what make this organization one that will stand the test of time. And thanks to our board's guidance and stewardship, DC Justice Lab is positioned for continued growth, impact, and sustainability.

This year, our team and board have navigated political shifts, moments of local and national reckoning, and the very real challenges that come with building something bold and values-driven. Through it all, you have continued to lead with courage, integrity, and purpose.

Thank you for doing this necessary heart work.

To our staff, board, partners, funders, and community members: thank you for believing in a safer, freer, and more equitable DC—and for helping us build it together.

Here's to six years of impact and the work ahead.

With gratitude,
Clinique 🩷

06/01/2026

This week, we celebrate 6 years of DC Justice Lab.

For six years, we have worked to transform the District's approach to public safety through solutions that are evidence-driven, community-rooted, and racially just. We have researched, organized, advocated, and partnered with communities to advance a vision of a safer, freer, and more equal DC.

Our work is grounded in the belief that sustainable change must be shaped by those most impacted and we must continue reimagining systems that have failed far too many for far too long.

To our staff, board, partners, funders, advocates, and community members—thank you for being part of this journey. We are proud of what we've built together and energized for the work ahead. 💖

05/29/2026

Not so safe & beautiful:
More death and destruction from high-speed police chases.
Increased complaints about police violence and mistreatment.
All fueled by federal agents who have flooded our communities since last summer.

A teen is dead and a man is paralyzed after federal agents engaged in high-speed pursuits in recent months. High-speed chases are one of the most dangerous police tactics, with most deaths among bystanders and passengers. Yet this deadly tactic usually begins in response to minor incidents.

Complaints about police harassment and violence are up by 25% across the city since the increase in federal forces occupying our city. The DC Office of Police Complaints mid-year report details the surge in complaints and investigations into harassment and use of force complaints for incidents involving MPD and federal officers.

Congress and the President need to reign in these out of control federal officers. And DC government needs to do more to protect our residents from these dangerous agents.

05/28/2026

DC’s next mayor has a choice: keep pouring money into failed tough-on-crime policies or invest in the people and neighborhoods that actually make communities safe.

This month, DC Justice Lab CEO Clinique Chapman joined conversations with The DC Line and WAMU to challenge the fear-driven status quo and advocate for public safety policies rooted in evidence, accountability, and community.

Read Clinique’s full op-ed:
https://thedcline.org/2026/05/08/clinique-chapman-the-next-mayor-can-get-public-safety-right-heres-how/

05/26/2026

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we're highlighting what effective crisis response actually looks like and pushing back on one of the most persistent misconceptions in public safety: that more police equals better crisis response.

Not every 911 call requires an armed officer. Many involve someone experiencing a mental health crisis, substance use issue, or acute emotional distress. These are situations where behavioral health expertise matters more than a badge and a gun.

The data backs this up. In Albuquerque, the Community Safety Department has handled over 120,000 calls since 2021 with officers called for backup less than 1% of the time. In Durham, the HEART program has responded to more than 42,000 calls, freed up over 8,000 hours of police time in a single year, and is associated with lower arrest rates and more people connected to community-based services.

This is about building a response system sophisticated enough to meet the need. Georgetown Law’s Center for Innovations in Community Safety () published a report this month that further explains alternative first response and provides a blueprint for what that could look like in the District.

Read “Our Neighborhoods, Our Safety: A Blueprint for a Unified Public Health Approach to Community Safety in Washington, DC” at the link in our bio.

05/22/2026

More on budgets. The federal government is spending $1.6 million a day on National Guard deployment in DC.

What could that investment look like instead?

Six days of that ($9 million) would fund a Trauma Recovery Center for crime survivors in every ward. Five days ($7 million) would launch a mental health crisis response program. Twenty-five days ($40 million) would provide a year of living-wage jobs for every DC resident returning home from federal prison.

Swipe to see what real investment in public safety could look like.

05/21/2026

This week, DC Justice Lab joined the M.O.C.H.A. Lab, Bloomberg American Health Initiative, the Brittany Clardy Foundation, Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, and Ujima, Inc. to unveil the Screaming in Silence toolkit and model state legislation, an important step toward addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Black women and girls nationwide.

It was an honor for our organization to lend our expertise in legislative drafting and policy advocacy to such an important national effort, while helping ensure the voices and lived experiences of those most impacted remained centered throughout the process.

But the work does not stop once legislation is passed. Centering Black women and girls must continue beyond the bill-signing moment through implementation, oversight, transparency, and accountability. We must continue holding elected officials’ feet to the fire in every state to ensure these policies are not only enacted, but fully funded, implemented with integrity, and responsive to the communities they are meant to serve.

Address

1200 U Street, NW
Washington D.C., DC
20009

Telephone

+12026818783

Website

http://www.dcjusticelab.org/

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