Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson answered the call of community and faith leaders who have been fighting for investments in areas with high rates of gun violence by creating the new Office of Gun Violence Reduction with an executive order signed on Thursday.
The announcement of the new office sparked many questions, chief among them regarding this office will do that others haven’t.
Plus, many are asking where the money will come from and where will it go? And will City Council get on board?
The new office won’t replace the existing Office of Community Safety. The city’s Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Emmanuel Andre, who leads the Office of Community Safety, will also be executive director of the Office of Gun Violence.
Johnson says it will focus on investments in the areas with the highest rates of gun violence, and the treatment of the demographic that Mayor Johnson says is most likely to be traumatized by gun violence: young Black men.
“If there ever was a time for us to solely focus on a particular group that’s most likely to experience the violence that comes with trauma, this is that moment,” Johnson said.
Supportive alders are also drafting an ordinance that would transition the office into a permanent “Department of Gun Violence Reduction,” vested with the authority to give out contracts to violence interruption agencies and other community groups. That raises significant red flags, says 2nd Ward Alderman and Public Safety Committee Chairman Brian Hopkins.
“It’s vulnerable to fraud, you’ve got to watch it closely and get what you paid for,” Hopkins said. “I don’t think this office is going to do that; it’s going to be spending more money without the kind of oversight we need.”
A handful of faith and community leaders helped craft the new plan, but Rev. Sandi Norman, who runs a violence intervention group called Life Without Limits, says she wasn’t one of them. She said she fears this will be an insider’s game to dole out money to favored organizations.
“The money always goes to the same people, the same organizations – but when the violence is going on, where are all these people?” Norman said.
Hopkins says the city already spends tens of millions on community violence intervention programs and should instead focus on boosting support for law enforcement.
“And that means arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating repeat violent offenders,” Hopkins said.
The executive order also creates a 17-member community advisory council to help shape and develop guidelines for the new office, made up of members of community groups and violence intervention organizations – the same groups that regularly get money from the city to do violence prevention work.
Mayor Johnson did not put an official price tag on the initiative, but supportive groups have floated $100 million as an ideal number.
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