David Kennedy's Talk

The United States faces two closely linked and appalling problems: extraordinarily high rates of serious violence and extraordinarily high rates of incarceration, both concentrated in poor minority, especially black, communities. There are now proved approaches that dramatically reduce that violence while also reducing arrest and incarceration and resetting relationships between community and law enforcement. The work has revealed unexpected facts about what lies behind the violence, and unexpected ways in which law enforcement, communities, and even offenders want the same things. Kennedy, who has been central to designing these approaches, will trace their development, their underlying logic, and the potential they have for resetting how the nation thinks about and addresses violence.