17-04-2025
Chicago's Peacekeeper program credited for 41% drop in gun violence
CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — Gun violence in Chicago is down 41% according to a new study from Northwestern University. Gov. JB Pritzker credited the Peacekeeper Program, which trains residents to de-escalate conflicts in high-crime neighborhoods, for contributing to the downward turn.
The Illinois Office of Firearm Violence Prevention implemented the Peacekeeper strategy in 2023, which was adopted by the state.
The Illinois Department of Human Services oversaw the Citywide Crisis Prevention and Response Unit, described as a highly mobile team that is specifically designed to prevent violence and address conflict and crises in the City of Chicago.'
In 2023, 30 trained, neighborhood 'Peacekeepers' were sent into Chicago's most neighborhoods. That number grew to 1,213 in 2024, who were active in 27 Chicago Community Areas and 8 Cook County suburbs.
The report said six Peacekeepers died while on the job: two from natural causes and four from fatal shootings.
The Peacekeeper program is funded by the , a $250 million anti-violence initiative created as a reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Cities nationwide began to rethink the role of law enforcement following nationwide protests and civil unrest over Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer.
The Peacekeepers are part of a 'community-focused' approach to addressing violent conflict, with members undergoing training in crowd de-escalation tactics, crisis intervention, and referrals to mental health or substance abuse programs.
The program was 'designed to center equity in anti-violence work, ensuring that the staff deployed to serve communities are representative of and share backgrounds with those communities.'
'Corner by corner, block by block, and neighborhood by neighborhood – we are freeing our communities from the age-old patterns of crime and violence,' Pritzker said on Thursday. 'From Day One, violence intervention and reduction has been a focus of my administration, and I established the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention and worked with the General Assembly to pass the Reimagine Public Safety Act to organize and support efforts such as these exactly because I believed these kind of results—and more—were possible.'
Northwestern's Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science found a 31% reduction in gun violence from 2023 to 2024, compared to the two previous years, with a 41% decline in high-crime neighborhoods.
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