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REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Wednesday, an impressive group of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, district attorneys, and attorneys general from across the U.S. came together to announce a joint crackdown effort on mass incarceration. You might be thinking, “Wait, but aren’t they the ones who lock people up?”

Yes. But this cohort, banded together under the name Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration, have acknowledged their wayward punitive ways and are looking to change course. The group has among its members some of the top law-enforcement officials of almost every major city in the nation. It’s co-chaired by the current and former police chiefs of Chicago and New Orleans, respectively. They’re operating under a new blue code, or rather, a statement of principles—which rests on four policy priorities:

Increasing alternatives to arrest and prosecution, especially mental health and drug treatment. Policies within police departments and prosecutor’s offices should divert people with mental-health and drug-addiction issues away from arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment and instead into proper treatment.

Reducing unnecessary severity of criminal laws by reclassifying some felonies to misdemeanors or removing criminal sanctions where appropriate.

Reducing or eliminating mandatory-minimum laws that require overly harsh, arbitrary sentences for crimes.

Strengthening ties between law enforcement and communities by promoting strategies that keep the public safe, improve community relations, and increase community engagement.

“Extensive reliance on prison as a punishment does not keep us safe,” reads the organization’s statement of principles. “Imprisoning people at today’s exorbitant levels has little crime control benefit.”

Whether this new effort will lead to demonstrable change in communities already wrecked by over-incarceration—or whether it helps drops incarceration rates in general—of course, remains to be seen. The group’s statement still reflects the belief that “some people need to go to prison, particularly those who have committed serious and violent crimes,” as it reads in the “ The Way Forward” section of its principles statement. Violence remains the top qualifier for jail time, with far more people in federal and state prisons for crimes considered violent, however defined, than anything else.

However, for all of the names listed as part of this new alliance, what’s perhaps most notable are the names not listed:

The Law Enforcement Leaders group has a rolling, open enrollment, so any of these figures could become members at any time. The only membership requirements are that a person have led a law enforcement agency or association, and that they sign on to the mission statement. But doing so essentially means signing a confession that traditional policing practices have devastated families and communities for decades—a confession that would have much more consequential value if it came with restitution to the people they helped destroy.