Reimagining Safety

Join us on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California, for a screening of "Reimagining Safety". This award-winning documentary shows how policing and incarceration create more harm than good, why the harm persists, the role of the media, and how resources and care-based interventions reduce crime while improving societal conditions.

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The film starts at 6:00 pm and is followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with filmmaker/director Matthew Solomon. The film's runtime is 83 minutes.

Calls for reform after the police violence witnessed in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy were quickly overshadowed by political pushback and fear-based justifications. In "Reimagining Safety", filmmaker Matthew Solomon challenges the narrative that more policing and incarceration make us safer. He brings together experts to expose the harm caused by over-militarization, systemic bias, and punitive justice—and provides a view of what real public safety could look like.

Filmmaker Matthew Solomon, who pursued a Master’s in Public Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially thought his studies would take him away from filmmaking. Instead, his academic coursework on sustainability and social systems became the foundation for this powerful documentary.

The film was shot on iPhone. Since its February 2023 release on streaming service, it has been screened over 70 times across the US and has been seen by over 4000 people at community impact screenings hosted by more than 100 coalition organizations. The film was named Best Film by Evident Change's Media for a Just Society Award, Best Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Best Cinematography at The People's Film Festival in Harlem, and has received a powerful endorsement by The Black Panther Party WA who has added it to their political education curriculum.

This film event offers a thought-provoking conversation on the urgent need for a more humane approach to public safety.

Free event.

Sponsored by the Green Party of Monterey County in collaboration with the Green Party of Santa Cruz County, Empathy In Action-Transformative Justice Center (Monterey), Monterey Peace and Justice Center, Veterans For Peace Monterey County Chapter 46, and the Peace Coalition of Monterey County.

This documentary is an incredible, transformative resource that we absolutely NEED everyone to see—it will undoubtedly change the way they’ve viewed justice and policing. – Olayemi Olurin, Movement Lawyer and Political Commentator

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“Reimagining Safety” is an era-defining documentary. With the increased tension between local police agencies and the people they should be “serving and protecting,” many people have become disillusioned with not only the police, but the system they represent. Matthew Solomon has captured the angst and despair of the people perfectly, as well as offering solutions many have been afraid to embrace...until now. This doc will be a part of political education classes for the Panthers from now until the abolition of the police as we know them is a reality. - Bunchy Carter, Minister of Defense The Black Panther Party Washington State

“Reimagining Safety” introduces the audience to the multifaceted conversation of abolition by taking a practical look at the role of policing, analyzing the results and offering alternatives. Unarmed people are murdered with the use of public funding - without addressing this reality, we ensure that more innocent lives will be taken at the hands of the state; this film is a doorway to that difficult conversation. Anyone interested in learning about police violence and abolition should see this film. – David Virone, Food Not Bombs.

"Reimagining Safety” takes an intelligent look into policing and crime in America and challenges the status quo. A MUST-WATCH for this whole country. – The Beyond Hollywood International Film Festival

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“Reimagining Safety” does an excellent job of highlighting the systemic issues with policing and incarceration in the US today, while also connecting with the deeply personal impacts of policing on those featured in the film. The film draws on the testimony of these experts who can not only name the issues but also provide actionable, evidence-based solutions. It challenges us to start thinking about what we can start doing today to connect with each other and make our communities safer. A must-watch. – Bineh Ndefru, President, The Science Policy Group at UCLA

"Reimagining Safety" provided us with valuable insight into the negative consequences of policing and incarceration, which have a detrimental impact on entire communities. It served as an opportunity for our community to collectively educate ourselves and listen to the personal experiences of those affected by policing and incarceration. Most importantly, it inspired us as a community to reimagine safety by not only learning about but putting into action new approaches. - Decarcerate KC

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Resource Center For Nonviolence, 612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, United States