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Building Justice in Berks (BJB) is a grassroots advocacy group focused on criminal legal system reform in Berks County. Our mission is to reduce the number of people in the system, identify interventions that maximize community safety, and ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and equity across race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and gender.
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In the fall of 2023, Building Justice in Berks and The Real Deal 610 partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice to investigate the carceral system in Berks County. The project, called Walk With Us, began in response to plans for a new county jail, but it became much more than that.
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Our report -- Wasted Resources: The True Cost of Jail Detention in Berks and a Vision for Public Safety -- highlights the voices of people impacted by incarceration, exposes the true costs of jail detention, and offers a vision for a safe, healthy and thriving Berks.​ Scroll down for Quick Insights and the report in English and Spanish.
Berks County has a rare opportunity to make transformative decisions about how we invest our resources in public safety. This is a critical juncture to invest in services that meet residents’ basic needs and explore policy changes that are likely to generate better outcomes than expanding jail detention.
Highlights
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The Report
Click on the image to read the full report in English or Spanish
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