A coalition of city and county officials and advocacy groups is pushing for the creation of a new city Department of Gun Violence Reduction.
“This would create a stabilized department in the long term that isn’t just responding to the whims of today when we’re dealing with sustained issues,” Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Emmanuel Andre said Monday at a City Hall news conference.
Few details were discussed regarding staffing or what the department might look like. But officials said it would have a $100 million budget made up of existing public safety money across Chicagocity departments. It would have contracting and procurement powers to put workers like violence interrupters on the city’s payroll, the group said.
The city plans to spend more than $3 billion on public safety this year, meaning the proposal would take up about 3% of that spending.
The plan would replace the mayor’s Office of Community Safety, one of many existing city agencies and offices devoted to the issue. That office currently coordinates the city’s response to violence involving the city’s first responders, emergency management, the Chicago Police Board and oversight agencies.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he supports the creation of the office, which would “ensure [violence-prevention] efforts are aligned, accountable and sustained over time.”
Beth Brown, a pastor at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church and former interim commissioner with the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, said it would differ from other public safety agencies by more broadly coordinating the city’s strategy to address violence, bringing housing, jobs programs and youth services into the fold.
“Gun violence prevention cannot be the effort of one department alone,” Brown said.
While the proposal calls for an executive order from Johnson, the group is also pushing for an ordinance to ensure that the agency couldn’t be undone by a future mayor. It’s set to be introduced before the August City Council recess, and advocates said they hope it will be part of the fall budget process.
Proponents said they haven’t spoken with officials in the Chicago Police Department — which deferred to the mayor for comment — about the proposal.
The plan comes as violence in Chicago is down, with the fewest homicides in 2025 the city has seen since 1965. Still, eight people were killed and dozens were shot in multiple shootings over the Juneteenth holiday weekend, according to the police department.
“We’ve been asking for this [office] for years,” said Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham. “We look at this last weekend to see the violence in this city. … Let’s draw the line on this.”
Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st) said a high turnover in mayors and mayoral departments makes the ordinance necessary. Previous attempts under former mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot failed, advocates said.
“It must become a permanent commitment,” Mosley said. “The question is not whether we can afford to make this investment. It is if we can afford to not make this investment.”
