The Future of Public Safety Is Here in Newark

By Jamila Hodge for The Nation

Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka with local firefighters.(Mel Evans / AP Photo)

Our legal system has always been singularly focused on identifying who caused harm and punishing them to the full extent of the law. To that end, our country spends over $266 billion dollars attempting to address violence through policing, prosecutions, and prisons. And yet none of those do anything to address the root causes of violence. I joined the Washington, D.C., US Attorney’s office in 2006, after earning my law degree and working several years at a firm, with the belief that the “right” people in power could fix a “broken” system that was often harmful to Black and brown communities.