Update

Report Links Street Safety and Police Reform, Urging Integrated Urban Approaches

A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Policing Project at NYU School of Law argues that street safety and police reform movements are deeply interconnected, advocating for integrated approaches to urban planning and law enforcement to address car dependency and systemic inequities.

Update Published 20 May 2026 4 min read Jonah Mercer

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A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law posits that movements for street safety and police reform are fundamentally linked, advocating for a more integrated approach to urban planning and law enforcement. The report underscores how car dependency and enforcement-heavy safety strategies exacerbate inequalities within the criminal legal system, particularly impacting communities of colour and low-income individuals.

The research examines how mass car dependency amplifies harm, citing traffic stops that disproportionately affect people of colour and traffic fines that can trap low-income earners in cycles of debt. It suggests that an over-reliance on enforcement in Vision Zero initiatives — which aim to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries — can divert resources from more effective, structural solutions like improved infrastructure and increased mobility alternatives.

Interconnected Challenges

The report argues that America's car-dependent transport system and its police-focused approach to safety have evolved in tandem. It highlights how corporate interests, public investment decisions, and historical racial discrimination collectively undermined public transit networks, leading to a greater presence of law enforcement on roads. This historical context suggests a systemic rather than episodic connection between transport policy and policing.

Scarlett Neath, a senior adviser at the Policing Project and co-author, emphasised the need for collaboration between police reform and road safety advocates, as well as between transportation and police departments. She noted that while there should be consequences for dangerous driving, the current punitive system often devastates communities without significantly improving road safety outcomes. The United States, for example, has a significantly higher rate of fatal car crashes and police killings compared to other high-income countries.

Costs of Enforcement-Centric Approaches

A key finding of the report is that over-emphasising policing in traffic safety diverts attention and resources from critical infrastructure and vehicle technology improvements. These design-focused solutions – such as redesigned roads, retimed traffic lights, and lower speed limits – could make it difficult for motorists to drive dangerously, rather than reacting after incidents occur. The report also points out the inequitable distribution of existing design-focused solutions, noting that many Black children live in neighbourhoods lacking basic amenities like sidewalks.

Furthermore, the report details how many roadside stops are not primarily motivated by traffic safety. It references the explosion of "pretextual" stops during the 1970s War on Drugs, where police used minor infractions like broken tail lights to profile suspects. Today, implicit and explicit "stop quotas" can incentivise officers to make numerous pretextual stops, often to generate revenue through fines and fees, rather than focusing on the most dangerous drivers. Data from various jurisdictions suggests that when police departments prioritise safety-related stops, they achieve better crash prevention outcomes without negative impacts on crime fighting.

Holistic Safety and Structural Solutions

The authors advocate for a holistic understanding of safety, urging a move beyond policies that incentivise ineffective policing in transportation. They propose rethinking how street design and police reform interact, offering strategies such as piloting civilian enforcement for minor infractions and providing equipment repair vouchers to eliminate common pretexts for police-motorist interactions. This approach aims to reduce unnecessary police encounters while improving safety.

The report, alongside a companion study with the Vision Zero Network, frames preventable deaths and injuries from car crashes, as well as violent outcomes from police contact, as interconnected public health crises. It calls for advocates to recognise the shared goals of Vision Zero and police reform movements and to build upon progress in both areas to create safer, more equitable urban environments.