Housing and Public Safety

From the introduction:

“This research brief will summarize recent findings on what is known about access to quality or substandard housing as it relates to public safety and the use of incarceration. Along with conducting a brief literature review, the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) has compared data on state housing expenditures with crime rates and incarceration rates. While there is no single solution that will entirely reduce the probability that a person will be involved in criminal activity, and the literature is not conclusive on any one factor that would solve every community’s various challenges, the research suggests that increased investments in housing can have a positive public safety benefit. “