Municipal Data

CfJJ's Municipalities Project produces research, reports and issue briefs that analyze municipal policies and data in Massachusetts cities and towns that impact the lives of children and youth. CfJJ utilizes public records requests to collect policy documents and data from a range of city and town actors including police, schools, and others. The Municipalities Project explores issues of racial bias in local law enforcement policies, and queries whether municipal policies and practice send young people into the juvenile or criminal justice systems, subject them to harsher penalties within those systems, and/or present undocumented youth to federal immigration authorities for detention and potential deportation.

Revealing the hidden costs of policing in boston

How much does policing cost the City of Boston? While the stated Boston Police Department (BPD) budget was just over $404 million in FY2021, this estimate does not incorporate hidden costs to the city, including pension pay-ins and health insurance costs. After incorporating these hidden costs, the actual cost of operating BPD was over $572 million.

Too Blue: A Vision for Non-Police Responses to Community Incidents in Boston

The Boston Police Department (BPD) has been tasked with responding to a wide variety of incidents and situations, many of which fall beyond core law enforcement responsibilities. Too Blue analyzes publicly available data from the City of Boston, with the aim of answering two questions: (1) What types of incidents do the Boston Police Department respond to? and (2) Which of these incident types could be handled more efficiently and effectively by non-police alternatives to meet community needs?

We are the Prey: Racial Profiling and Policing of Youth in New Bedford

The New Bedford Police Department reports incidents involving young people of color at disproportionate rates that are shocking in a white majority city. Additionally, there are patterns of over-policing lower-income neighborhoods, both formally and informally, as police officers are encouraged to live in public housing by rents that are discounted far below that of other residents and communities of color bearing the brunt of frequent stops and interrogations by the NBPD.