Salinas is thrilled to be recognized by What Works Cities as one of the first 50 cities in the country to be Certified for our investment in data and transparency as part of our decision-making processes across the city. We look forward to building on this achievement moving forward, to continue making a positive impact on the lives of our residents. As of December 2021 only 50 cities have achieved Certification. Based on staff size and annual budget, the City of Salinas is one of the smallest cities to achieve certification.
The following are some highlights of the work the City of Salinas has accomplished:
- Through the cross-sector collaboration Community Alliance for Safety and Peace (CASP), we use data as a storytelling tool to bring together community partners, leverage resources to reduce youth violence, and track key information for community grants.
- Through our Police Beat Optimization Study, we carefully analyzed beat allocation in order to optimize police response time and ensure continuation of services for the community. While workload had increased, the size of the force had not changed since the 1980s. By analyzing response time and workload, we determined the need to add a 4th shift and realign the beat boundaries.
- We thoughtfully engaged with the community to develop the Alisal Vibrancy Plan, an action-oriented and comprehensive strategy for East Salinas that is bringing residents together to design and implement strategies to achieve a thriving, safe, and sustainable future for the community.
What Work Cities (WWC), launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2015, is a national initiative that helps cities use data and evidence more effectively to tackle their most pressing challenges. Cities in the What Works Cities community have access to technical assistance and a variety of learning opportunities from expert partners to grow and build their data practices and culture. For more information, visit whatworkscities.org.