City officials unveiled their summer safety plan on Thursday ahead of the warmest months of the year in Chicago, which also see a peak in shootings and homicides.
Their plan focuses on curbing mass shootings and reducing youth-involved and gender-based violence. Leaders also pledged to focus on the times when data shows people are most at risk of getting hurt, which they said is from 9 p.m. to midnight, Thursday to Sunday during the summer.
The plan relies heavily on the work of violence interrupters to peacefully mediate conflict in Chicago’s neighborhoods that see the most violent crime and at large teen gatherings in downtown Chicago.
“Historically, the summer months bring both joy and pain to our communities,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “City government alone cannot bring that healing that our communities need. We need everyone to rally together in this moment to contribute to a safer, stronger city.”
At a press conference announcing the plan, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said he would prioritize deploying officers to communities most affected by violent crime. Snelling also promised to address large teen gatherings in the downtown area, some of which have turned violent.
Part of that includes keeping teens busy with a number of activities this summer, such as the return of the city’s late-night basketball and softball series, and “Take Back the Block” parties, which aim to foster relationships between community members and public officials.
Snelling hopes the initiatives will help keep violent crime in the city at bay, which is already trending downward.
“If we can avoid making arrests, that’s a good day for us,” Snelling said. “It’s a good day for everybody. But there are times when we have to, and when we have to, we will. But we’re going to do every single thing that we can to avoid that.”
That’s why the city plan relies on the work of violence interrupters who are hired to resolve conflicts in peaceful ways within their own communities.
Vaughn Bryant, the executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, said his organization will deploy outreach workers to violence hot spots during the high-risk weekend hours this summer.
Bryant also said they’ll have a response unit committed to large teen gatherings, “To make sure that when our teens are out and about in the community, that they’re able to go home safe,” Bryant said.
Outreach workers will also patrol the streets until 3 a.m. instead of ending their shift at 12 a.m. as they had in previous summers.
Meanwhile, Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige said her office is investing in hospital-based violence prevention.
“Someone is hurt,” she said. “Thank goodness they didn’t die. They’re in the hospital recovering. Now, what is going to happen when they get out? Retaliation. They either get re-victimized or they become the aggressor. What if we engage that person, connect them to services, reroute them somewhere else, break up the cycle of violence?”
Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. You can reach her at asavchenko@wbez.org.