Brownsville Community Justice Center

staff giving supplies to child and parent

The Brownsville Community Justice Center works to reduce crime and incarceration, and strengthen community trust in justice in central Brooklyn.

The Brownsville Community Justice Center is a multi-faceted initiative that seeks to prevent crime by investing in local youth and improving the physical landscape of the neighborhood. The Justice Center also seeks to forge better responses after crime occurs, offering meaningful alternatives to incarceration.

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Highlights

  • Legal Hand

    Legal Hand empowers community residents to support their neighbors with the legal information they need.

  • Project Reset

    Project Reset diverts people out of the justice system with a proportionate, restorative, and effective response to low-level arrests. 

  • Youth Impact

    Youth can be transformative leaders, addressing inequity in their communities and the factors that lead to youth involvement in the criminal legal system.  

Photo Gallery

Brownsville Be on Belmont Festival
Be on Belmont

The Be On Belmont festival celebrates a community-led revitalization of a historic commercial corridor. The transformation was recognized with an Excellence Award from the Center for Active Design.

Brownsville Community Justice Center as Media Center
Community Engagement Through Tech

At an NYC Media Lab panel, John Bryant explains the Justice Center's use of in-house designed technology to solve community problems and engage young people. You can also listen to a profile of the tech lab from WNYC.

The Brownsville Photography Program
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

The Justice Center's Brownsville Photography Program allows students to explore the power of visual imagery under the tutelage of professional photographers.

Publications & Digital Media

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News

  • We Don’t Have to Choose Between Safety and Justice

    For far too long, we’ve been told that we must choose between justice and safety, that those two goals are in direct competition. Community Justice challenges that false dichotomy, providing a path forward in divided times.

  • Loretta Lynch leads national effort to address gender disparities in criminal justice

    July 10, 2024
    Brooklyn Daily Eagle

    Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has been appointed to chair the Women’s Justice Commision by the Council on Criminal Justice. The commission, which aims to address the unique challenges women face in the criminal justice system, marked its launch in July with a visit to our Brownsville Community Justice Center. Lynch and 15 other leaders serving on the commission toured the Justice Center and heard a presentation on our Brooklyn programs, which align with their commitment to reducing the flow of women into the justice system in the wake of rising incarceration rates.

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Looking to Implement a Program in Your Neighborhood?

Find out more about how we can help you.
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Partners

The Brownsville Community Justice Center has been endorsed by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and numerous local partners such as the Brownsville Partnership, Community Partnership Commission Association, SCO Family Services, the Brownsville Recreation Center, and the Brooklyn Clergy Task Force. Support for planning and programming has come from a number of federal, state, and local agencies, including the City of New York, the; U.S. Department of Justice, the New York State Unified Court System, and several private funders, including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Robin Hood Foundation.

Related Areas of Focus

We rely on the generosity of supporters to do the work we do.

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