Center for Community Safety and Resilience

Vision

Thriving individuals and families in safe and supportive communities.

Mission

Advance research-based evidence and practice toward individual and community safety, resilience, and justice through effective programs, practitioner and community education, and public policy advocacy and analysis.

Values

Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, Belonging and Accessibility (DEIBA)
Justice
Collaboration
Community
Impact

About the Center

The Center for Community Safety and Resilience (CCSR) at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs envisions thriving individuals and families in safe and supportive communities. CCSR advances that vision through research-based evidence and practice toward individual and community safety, resilience, and justice. CCSR is dedicated to effective programs, practitioner and community education, and public policy advocacy and analysis.

CCSR broadens and deepens work on interpersonal violence to advance social justice, increase public safety, eliminate individual and societal violence, and strengthen community resilience. We:

Bring diverse, intersectional, and intersectoral issues front, center, and woven throughout.
Focus on social determinants of health and community determinants of violence.
Examine individual and community resiliency to violence, trauma, and crisis.

Our Operating Principles

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Our Strategic Priorities

Advance evidence-based practice of individuals and organizations to effectively address and reduce violence, trauma, and crisis in their communities.
Collaborate with youth and community organizations to reduce youth violence and increase individual agency to effect positive social change.
Conduct and promote research and evaluation that informs practices and policies related to public safety, social vulnerabilities, and community resilience.
Connect information and resources about safety and resilience across stakeholders, organizations, sectors, and academic disciplines.

CCSR collaboratively engages partners in higher education, Denver communities, non-profits, and local and state government to address, research, and promote proven solutions surrounding issues of violence and justice, community safety and resilience. The Center fulfills its mission through rigorous scholarship and creative activities; collaborations with communities, practitioners, and non-profits; and interdisciplinary partnerships within the School of Public Affairs, CU Denver, and our communities, toward the creation of deliverables, including technical reports, scholarly publications, and events.

Main Programs

Featured Research: Annual Colorado Crime Data Report

Crime is a concern held by the vast majority of people. And for good reason. The thought of losing one’s life, or that of a loved one, to murder is of great concern, and the reality for too many in Colorado and the nation. The thought of someone breaking into our homes and taking our possessions robs us of more than tangible objects. Stealing our motor vehicles creates havoc in our lives and is more than an inconvenience. The media is replete with stories of those victimized in these ways and others. While being conscientious is important, it is equally important not to live in fear and to have a healthy understanding of our actual risk of violence, property, and substance abuse crimes. Providing that accurate understanding is the purpose of this report. This report, co-authored by Dr. Callie M. Rennison and Dr. Sheila M. Huss, provides details of violent, property, and substance use crimes for the State of Colorado and the 23 largest policing jurisdictions in the state from 2010 to 2021.