Apply for Access to Safer Cities Pro

A research platform for the people who shape and cover public safety in America.

Safer Cities Pro is an educational research platform serving the officials, staff, and journalists doing the work of public safety in cities, counties, states, and at the federal level. It is fiercely non-partisan.

We’re in a beta phase right now, and space is limited. Access is by application only.

Two paths to membership

You qualify if you are:

A government official, agency head, or government staff member at any level — city, county, state, federal, tribal, and special districts (transit, port, school, and similar). This includes elected officials, appointed leadership, agency staff, legislative staff, and executive office staff working on public safety, criminal justice, emergency management, public health, courts, corrections, or related portfolios.
A journalist or creator with an extensive, publicly accessible track record of publishing on public safety. This includes staff reporters, editors, columnists, freelancers, independent newsletter writers, podcasters, and video creators whose body of work demonstrates sustained substantive coverage of policing, prosecution, courts, corrections, public safety policy, violence prevention, or related topics.

If you don’t fit either path, this isn’t the right platform for you right now. We may open additional paths in the future.

What it costs

Nothing during beta. Our goal is to secure philanthropic support to keep Safer Cities Pro free indefinitely. In exchange for free access during beta, we’ll ask you to share candid feedback so we can build something genuinely useful to people in your role.

The rules

Two things, non-negotiable:

Educational use only. Safer Cities Pro is built to inform decisions and reporting, not to drive them in a particular political direction.
No electoral use, ever. You cannot use this platform — its content, data, or membership — for any campaign, PAC, ballot measure, electioneering, or partisan political activity.

Members who violate these rules will have their access revoked.

What happens after you apply

We review applications individually. We typically respond within a week during beta. If approved, you’ll receive a login link and a short orientation. If we can’t approve you right now, you’re welcome to apply again whenever your role or body of work changes.

We use your application information only to verify eligibility and to communicate with you about Safer Cities Pro. We don’t sell it, share it, or use it for anything else.

The application

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About you

Full name(Required)

Email(Required)

We will use this only to verify eligibility and to communicate about Safer Cities Pro.

Which best describes you?(Required)

Government official, agency head, or government staff member

Journalist or creator covering public safety

Tell us where you work

Help us verify eligibility quickly.

Organization, agency, or outlet(Required)

Examples: City of Austin Public Health, Suffolk County DA's Office, The Marshall Project, your independent newsletter.

Role or title(Required)

Examples: Director of Public Safety, Chief of Staff, Senior Reporter, Independent newsletter publisher.

Government level (if applicable)

Skip if you are a journalist or creator.

Link to your work, agency page, or portfolio(Required)

A LinkedIn, agency staff page, masthead listing, recent byline, or representative work that helps us verify your role and track record.

Why are you applying?(Required)

A few sentences. What would you use Safer Cities Pro for? What problems are you working on?

The rules — non-negotiable

Please confirm you have read and agree to both:(Required)

I will use Safer Cities Pro for educational use only — to inform decisions or reporting, not to drive them in a particular political direction.

I will not use Safer Cities Pro — its content, data, or membership — for any campaign, PAC, ballot measure, electioneering, or partisan political activity. I understand that members who violate this rule will have their access revoked.

By submitting this application, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.