This month, Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra spoke alongside other violence prevention leaders, local government, police, community organizations, and participants as part of Chicago CRED’s Violence Reduction 2020 event.
Chicago CRED, READI Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services, and other violence prevention advocates came together to commit to reducing violence in Chicago by 20 percent in 2020. This 20 percent decrease would bring the number of homicides below 400 for the first time since 1965.
“We know it’s ambitious, but we also know that it’s possible through citywide collaboration and investment in our communities,” Eddie said. “Every shooting we prevent not only saves lives, but saves money, restores hope, and brings us one step closer to breaking the cycle of violence and trauma. Our data is showing us that this can work.”
Since a dramatic spike in homicides and shootings in 2016, gun violence across Chicago has dropped by 35-40 percent, a decrease that police attribute to an increased use of technology among violence prevention organizations and advocates, and to a collaborative partnership between these organizations and community outreach workers.
For the first time, Chicago is investing more than $11 million to support violence prevention programs this year, up from about $1.5 million last year, and while READI Chicago applauds this investment, the philanthropic community has provided roughly $75 million in violence prevention funding in the past three years.
The coalition that gathered at the Violence Reduction 2020 event is urging Chicago to invest up to $50 million annually in violence prevention programs, and asking the State of Illinois to invest up to $100 million annually, while committing to continue raising private funds. At the same time, we are requesting that business leaders invest in communities facing high rates of violent crime and hire young men at high risk of violence involvement who need a pathway into the legal economy.
“Jobs are important; therapy is important,” Eddie said. “But we need to be advocating for resources because at the end of the day, our young men have to go back home to their communities. We as Chicagoans need to be leaders in this, to build new models for our own people and save lives.”
