State and local officials joined community anti-violence leaders today at a press conference in Chicago to celebrate a state-funded anti-violence program that has contributed to dramatic declines in gun violence in the Chicago region in recent years.
The Peacekeepers Program, funded through the Illinois Office of Firearm Violence Prevention in the Illinois Department of Human Services, is an initiative of community violence intervention (CVI) groups in Chicago. Under the program, more than 1000 individuals at high risk of shooting or being shot are deployed to help defuse tensions among rival street organizations and to occupy more than 200 of the most dangerous locations (“hotspots”) in the city and suburbs during periods of high conflict.
“Peacekeepers is the sort of innovative and effective anti-violence initiative this country and state need to save lives, save money, and give hope to violence-plagued communities in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Community violence intervention programs like this one are proven to be effective ways of reducing violence and are worthy of our continued commitment and investment.”
Mayor Johnson said, “Violent crime trends are moving in the right direction, proving the effectiveness of programs like Peacekeepers. We are confident that we are on track to becoming the safest big city in America thanks to the work of the ChicagoPolice Department, our CVI and community partners, and both the investments we are making to address the root causes of violence and our rapid responses to crime through the People’s Plan for Community Safety.”
Arne Duncan, founder of CVI organization Chicago CRED, thanked the Governor and State Legislators for their support, saying, “State support has made it possible for people at extreme risk of shooting or being shot to be a part of the solution. This is community-driven and community-led violence reduction.”
In February of 2024, state and local officials joined CVI leaders, philanthropists and business leaders to announce a major new initiative to “take to scale” CVI in seven Chicago communities that account for a major share of the gun violence in the city. The initiative is called Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago, or “SC2” for short.
SC2 aims to serve up to 75 percent of the people at highest risk of shooting or being shot and, along with traditional policing and other investments, hopes to reduce gun violence citywide by 75 percent over the next decade. Communities served by SC2 are North Lawndale, Austin, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Little Village, New City and Englewood.