Brownsville Community Justice Center

staff giving supplies to child and parent

The Brownsville Community Justice Center strives to identify and combat the socioeconomic challenges impacting the neighborhood, community, and residents of Brownsville, Brooklyn, in New York.

The Brownsville Community Justice Center improves public safety in Brownsville, Brooklyn, by investing in local residents, transforming public spaces, and re-engineering the criminal justice process. The Justice Center envisions a Brownsville in which crime and incarceration are reduced, faith in the justice system is restored, and civic life is vibrant.

Programming at the Brownsville Community Justice Center centers on three key elements: Alternatives to Incarceration, Youth Development, and Reimagining Public Space.

This holistic approach to community justice guides the services and opportunities created at BCJC which are uniquely designed to uplift and empower Brownsville’s youth. Learn more about their group-based programs below.

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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.

3 Black teenagers hold up phone for a selfie with an older Black man

"Virtual" Brownsville

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams gets an introduction to a new augmented reality app created by a team of young coders at the Justice Center.

Publications & Digital Media

  • Video

    Community Justice Is... Music and Dance

    “When Brownsville wins, everybody wins.” The [B]Live Music and Arts Festival has brought thousands of community members together over the years for music, dance, creativity, and connection in Brownsville, Brooklyn. A celebration of Brownsville’s resilience and talent produced by young people from the neighborhood, it’s a powerful example of what Community Justice can look like. Organized in partnership with BRIC, this year’s [B]Live featured delicious food, art exercises, local service providers, and performances from iconic artists like Dave East, Cassidy, and Jesse Royal.

    Community Justice, Reducing Violence

  • Publication

    Community Justice Today: Values, Guiding Principles, and Models

    The idea of community justice encompasses a diverse and growing range of evidence-based initiatives which seek to reduce crime by strengthening communities and redressing longstanding inequities. In recognition of the ways in which the approach has evolved over the years, this publication presents a new set of guiding principles of community justice and offers inventive models for putting them into practice, both inside and outside of the courtroom.

    Community Justice
See All Publications and Digital Media →

News

  • Giving Thanks for Community

    This Thanksgiving, our teams and community partners are working together to make sure everyone has delicious meals to share with family and friends.

  • 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.

View Archive →

Looking to Implement a Program in Your Neighborhood?

Find out more about how we can help you.
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Partners

 Over the past 13 years, the Justice Center has established an array of diverse partnerships in the community, each which play an important role in serving the community, including: Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District, Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, Youth Design Center, Churches United for Fair Housing, Equality for Flatbush, BRIC Arts Media, Bridge Street Corporation, Brooklyn Festival of Arts and Music, Brownsville Partnership, Immanuel Oni, East New York Community Land Trust, Brownsville Community Land Trust, Brooklyn Cooperative, Brooklyn Movement Center, Brownsville Community Culinary Center, 212 and Co, The Horticultural Society, Coro New York, Urban Design Forum, Design Trust for Public Space, Street Lab, New York Women’s Foundation, HIVE Public Space, JP Morgan and Chase, L+M Developers, Blue Sea Development, Brownsville In Violence Out (B.I.V.O), BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers, Brooklyn Perinatal Network, SCO Family of Services and Center for Urban Pedagogy.

Related Areas of Focus

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

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