The intervention of community violence saves lives. Continues to finance it for the good of public security.

For too long, many of our communities have suffered extreme levels of crime and violence. And for too long, our society has approached armed violence with only one approach: arrest and imprisonment.

But thanks to a 2021 law called Reimagin Public Security Law, Illinois is looking for a viable and proven alternative that the traditional police complement while offering people at risk a safe and legal ramp of street life.

According to the law, the State has invested in the intervention of community violence, under which community organizations hire members of the trusted community and respected so that they are directly involved with the people who are trapped in lives of armed violence. Specifically, dissemination workers recruit men and women with the greatest risk of shooting or being shot in programs with a life coach, trauma treatment and the opportunity to return to school, train for jobs and find work in the legal economy.

Today, hundreds of graduates are working on a variety of industries, winning enough to pay rent, feed their families and live safely. But thousands of people more need these services and a teenage and preteen pipe are directed to the life of the street unless we intervene.

Community violence intervention programs have now contributed to three consecutive years of decreased armed violence in Chicago and have put us on their way to achieve something that the city has not had in two decades: four consecutive years in which the number of shootings. They also maintain the hope of fulfilling the objective of Mayor Brandon Johnson of less than 500 homicides this year.

Saving lives

Research shows that community violence intervention is making a positive difference. A study by the University of Northwestern found that Chicago CRED graduates, a program founded by former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, are 74% less likely to be reactedA strong indication that they live more safely and legitimately and no longer carry a weapon. Another study By the neighborhood research and sciences center in Northwestern they accredit a consortium of 15 local organizations for the intervention of community violence, known as communities that are associated with 4 peace, with the prevention of almost 400 shootings for four years.

Another study evaluates the “Peace Canterias” program, which has received considerable state funds in the last two years through the Public Reimagination Security Law. According to Northwestern, the peace forces in Chicago in the last two years successfully mediated almost 2,000 street conflicts, any of which could have led to a shooting. Disclosure and peace maintenance workers have also negotiated dozens of “peace agreements” between the features of the Active Armed Street.

According to the Peace Canterias program, workers against violence also occupy extremely dangerous areas of the city during periods of high conflicts, such as on the afternoon of the afternoon in the summer and the main vacations such as Memorials Day, the Labor Day and New Year’s Eve. When these workers are on duty, the shootings in these places fall dramatically.

It is not about calling the traditional criminal justice system. Police, courts and prisons still play a key role in our public security system. But, in communities where most homicides and practically all non -fatal shootings never lead to an arrest, much less a conviction, we need all tools in the toolbox.

Money savings

Among other things, the intervention of violence in Chicago also represents one of the largest and most successful employment initiatives of the Nation for citizens who return. Today, approximately 2,000 people, many with “justice involved” environments, are employed doing a job they can only do, taking advantage of the confidence and respect they have with people trapped in the streets to make their communities safer.

In addition to saving lives and reducing trauma for thousands of survivors of armed violence, community violence intervention can also save billions of dollars. According to some estimates, each shooting in Chicago, both fatal and non -fatal, costs up to $ 1 million in surveillance, prosecution, imprisonment and, for non -fatal shootings, medical care. With almost 3,000 shootings in 2024 and more than 4,400 only a few years ago (2021), that totals thousands of millions and billions of dollars over time.

Add the economic loss of victims of armed violence and the opportunity cost of community investments that are delayed or different from armed violence, and the total annual cost of armed violence in Chicago could be up to $ 6 billion to $ 7 billion.

Put that with the average cost of recruiting, supporting, treating, educating and training an individual at risk, which is approximately $ 30,000, and the return on investment could be as high as one.

For all these reasons, we are deeply grateful to Governor JB Pritzker and our legislative leaders, and we hope they continue to finance the Public Restoning Law. Continuous state support is especially critical at this time, given the uncertainties in Washington, where the Trump administration recently postpones a subsidy of $ 3.7 million to Chicago Cred.

We know that violence intervention works. We know you save lives. It is time to make community violence intervention a permanent characteristic of Illinois public security.

State representative Justin Slaughter represents District 27. State Senator Robert Peters represents District 13. They verified the Public Security Law of Reimagina.

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