Chicago Gun Violence & Crime

Q&A:  New Chicago Deputy Mayor Susan Lee says Chicago needs 'all hands' approach to gun violence
Crain's Chicago Business, August 28, 2019
Susan Lee, who was instrumental in L.A.'s success, says the city needs patience, accountability and sustained investment.

A Program Gives Jobs to Those Most At Risk for Violence; Can Chicago Afford it?
WBEZ Chicago, June 11, 2019
READI Chicago, which stands for Rapid Employment and Development Initiative, is a collaboration between some of the city's biggest philanthropic organizations and the University of Chicago's Crime Lab.

Chicago's gangs have changed.  Our violence intervention strategies should too.
The Chicago Reporter, April 16, 2019
Chicago needs a change in anti-violence strategies. Gangs today are not so much the cause of violence as one of the effects of distressed communities. We need to switch our focus from targeting gangs criminally to a strategy of economic and social development in high-violence African-American neighborhoods with concentrated poverty.

Anti-violence group pushes city to spend $150 million on prevention
Crain’s Chicago Business, February 12, 2019
Chicago CRED—short for Creating Real Economic Destiny—wants the city to spend $150 million a year on a coordinated effort to identify the 10,000 highest-risk individuals in the city and fund a comprehensive effort to keep them out of trouble and set them on a new path.

Gang violence in Chicago changing, but policymakers slow to catch up, report says
Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2019
With the structure of storied supergangs like the Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords long gone, Chicago’s policymakers need to catch up and refocus efforts to reduce Chicago’s persistent violence on its root causes of economic disinvestment and historic segregation, argues a report released by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Another way to look at Chicago's number of killings
Crain's Chicago Business, January 14, 2019
The "homicide gap" measures the relative difference in homicides across neighborhoods. Since about 2006, the gap between Chicago's lowest- and highest-homicide communities has been widening. Find the study referenced here.

Panel rejects plan for elected civilian board to oversee CPD
Chicago Sun-Times,, October 29, 2018
The plan championed by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression calls for electing one representative from each of the city’s 22 police districts; they would serve four-year terms with a dedicated staff and an annual salary matching what aldermen are paid.

Praise, criticism at hearing for consent decree that would overhaul Chicago Police Department
Chicago Tribune, October 24, 2018
The rift between police reform advocates and some of Chicago’s police was on display in a downtown federal courtroom.

To end gun violence in Chicago, should we focus on quick fixes or root causes? Yes.
Crain’s Chicago Business, October 16, 2018
An op-ed penned by Nina Vinik pegged to a Joyce-funded survey on the experiences with gun violence of young adults in Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods.

Same city, different opportunities: Study maps life outcomes for children from Chicago neighborhoods
Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2018
Opportunity Atlas maps out areas of opportunity, poverty in Chicago, across the country.

U.S. attorney general says Chicago police consent decree should be tossed, while activists seek tighter rules
Chicago Tribune, October 12, 2018
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his assistants submitted an 11-page statement opposing the proposed Chicago Police Department consent decree, painting the proposal as an overly restrictive measure that could lead to increased crime.

Believe Chicago: new AT&T initiative tackling jobs, violence in 19 communities
Chicago Sun-Times, October 10, 2018
A new initiative by AT&T designed to directly address the city’s violence problem and high unemployment for people of color with a similar focus as PSPC on the 19 communities most affected by violence.

How 10 big Chicago hospitals vow to step up for 18 hurting neighborhoods
Chicago Sun-Times, October 1, 2018
Ten Chicago hospitals have vowed to increase local hiring and neighborhood procurement, among other goals, to strengthen the communities they serve.

EDITORIAL: A slow change is churning among suburban Republicans on gun violence
Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2018
GOP candidates’ views on gun violence as gleaned from Sun-Times endorsement interviews.

Do anti-violence programs work? Ask these at-risk young men
Crain’s Chicago Business, September 21, 2018
In their own words: Antonio Alsup and James Collins participate in life- and job-coaching programs at Inner-City Muslim Action Network, a CRED partner in solving the city's violence issue.

Arne Duncan’s mission: Stopping gun violence
Crain’s Chicago Business, September 21, 2018
The former Chicago Public Schools CEO and U.S. secretary of education is director of Creating Real Economic Destiny, a nonprofit geared toward at-risk youth.

Opinion:  Two Lessons of the Urban Crime Decline
New York Times, January 13, 2018
Researcher Patrick Sharkey shares data on drop in violent crime.

The Unsung Role That Ordinary Citizens Played in the Great Crime Decline
New York Times, November 9, 2017
Most theories for the great crime decline that swept across nearly every major American city over the last 25 years have focused on the would-be criminals, but none of these explanations have paid much attention to the communities where violence plummeted the most. New research suggests that people there were working hard, with little credit, to address the problem themselves.