Overview
- A coalition of city officials, faith leaders and violence-prevention groups announced the push at City Hall on Monday to replace the mayor’s Office of Community Safety with a codified Department of Gun Violence Reduction.
- Supporters say the new department would have roughly $100 million a year drawn from existing public-safety allocations and new procurement authority to put violence interrupters and nonprofits on the city payroll.
- Mayor Brandon Johnson has signaled support for the effort while the Chicago Police Department has declined to comment and referred questions to the mayor’s office.
- Organizers plan to introduce an ordinance this summer with Ald. Ronnie Mosley as a sponsor and hope to have it passed by October so funding can be included in next year’s budget.
- Some aldermen have expressed skepticism about whether reallocated money and a new structure will change results, and backers point to a recent Roseland mass shooting and a June weekend surge in shootings as reasons to press for permanence.