Civilianized safety practitioners reduce crime and disorder: Evidence from a quasiexperimental evaluation in San Francisco

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Abstract
Cities across the United States are experimenting with civilian-led alternatives to policing, yet rigorous evidence of their effectiveness remains scarce. This study evaluates a large-scale civilianized public safety program in San Francisco that deploys unarmed “safety practitioners” to high-crime intersections to provide consistent presence, de-escalation, and service referrals in place of traditional law enforcement. Using a generalized synthetic control design covering 624 intersections from 2018 to 2023, we estimate the causal impact of practitioner deployment on reported crime. We find that deployments significantly reduced total and behavioral health-related crimes, with smaller yet meaningful reductions in drug and violent crimes, and no change in property crime. These effects persisted across robustness checks comparing daytime (operating) to nighttime (nonoperating) hours, suggesting that observed declines are attributable to practitioner presence rather than secular trends. The findings indicate that civilianized safety practitioners—drawn largely from communities affected by incarceration, addiction, and homelessness—can function as capable guardians who lower public disorder without relying on coercive authority. By embedding trusted, nonpolice actors in high-need public spaces, cities may improve safety while reducing harmful police contact and expanding workforce opportunities for people historically excluded from the formal economy.

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