Pritzker Unveils Plan To Combat Gun Violence

CHICAGO, IL —Declaring gun violence a public health crisis, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker held a press conference Monday to announce his reimagined plan for public safety, which his office called a data-driven and community-based violence prevention initiative.

Pritzker pledged an "unprecedented" $250 million in state support for the plan that is designed to help the hardest-hit communities. The plan includes four key elements: high-risk youth intervention programs, violence prevention services, youth development programs and trauma recovery services for young people. Pritzker also said the program would look to stakeholders for future funding.

The governor was joined by legislators, stakeholders, and community leaders at the news conference on Chicago's West Side, where Pritzker signed Executive Order 2021-29, which declared gun violence a public health crisis and directed state agencies to develop holistic solutions to the crisis.

"Every neighborhood and every home deserve to be free from violence, and the State of Illinois is making an unprecedented statewide investment in the pursuit of violence reduction," Pritzker said.

In the executive order, Pritzker announced that the Department of Human Services would be charged with implementing the Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA), which was passed in June. That act established the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFPV).

Relevant state agencies will be required to work with the OFVP to address the systemic causes of firearm violence and to develop trauma-informed and equity-based strategies, according to the executive order.

Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot offered thanks to Illinois legislators for investing in a program that will help her city, which has seen shootings and murders on the rise, and the state as a whole. WIFR reported that gun violence has also grown into a major problem in neighborhoods in Peoria and Rockford.

"Law enforcement alone can never be the sole answer to reducing violence in our communities," Lightfoot said. "Violence reduction and intervention are critical components to the modern public safety landscape, as well as our holistic approach to combating crime. I commend our state partners for making this investment, which will help residents both in Chicago and across Illinois feel that much safer in the communities they call home."

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the plan was the result of a great deal of collaboration and coordination between the state government, Cook County and the City of Chicago.

"History will judge each of us on what we are doing today to stop the violence and bloodshed," Preckwinkle said. "I am grateful to everyone involved at all levels of government for their commitment to prioritize this work."

According to Pritzker's office, the plan will draw on federal and state funds, including $50 million from the 2022 state budget. The administration then will work with members of the General Assembly on an additional $100 million in funds in the budgets for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.

In order to enlist stakeholders in the initiative, Pritzker said the state would begin issuing Notices of Funding Opportunities for qualified organizations before the end of the year, with the goal of enabling work to be well underway before the summer of 2022.

Pritzker said something must be done to stop gun violence in the areas that have suffered the most.

“It's a stray bullet through the bedroom window, an expressway shooting, the violence that ricochets through spaces that should be safe. We all deserve to be safe from gun violence,” Pritzker said. "But the reality is that Black and brown communities are being wrought by this violence."