Johnson’s community-led plan to address Chicago crime and violence, but what’s the role for police?

CHICAGO — Every Chicago mayor has a comprehensive plan for public safety. Brandon Johnson, who this week marked one-year on the job, calls his initiative The People’s Plan.

It’s a community-led approach, focusing on long-term solutions to crime and violence.

In a recent interview in Englewood, Garien Gatwood, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety, said working with residents of neighborhoods plagued by violence will help heal communities.

“One of our ultimate goals is to build out community safety with community because I think historically, that’s the piece that’s been missing,” Gatwood said. “I think historically, government has told communities this is what we will do for you, as opposed to building this out with community together.”

The plan provides intervention in four long-suffering communities: Austin, West Garfield Park, Little Village and Englewood.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

“(It is) an area we looked at where were the most violent blocks in the city, where were the most disinvested blocks in the city, and we’re here in a place here in Englewood where data shows folks in some of these blocks here are making a third of what the medium income is for the city,” Gatwood said.

The plan calls for investment in education, housing, health and economic opportunity. The administration will clean up hundreds of vacant lots and plans to hire 28,000 youth as part of its summer jobs program.

They’re also identifying high-risk individuals that they call “high promise” to help find employment.

Tahman Bradley: “How do you convince someone that a minimum wage job would be better than a life of crime where you’re robbing a bunch of places downtown getting paid a heck of a lot more than minimum wage?”

Gatwood: “So first let me highlight the fact that along with the mayor’s office, the Chicago Police Department recently launched a robberies strategy to bring robberies down. … Beyond those minimum wage jobs we have to open up pathways to employment through the city and through our partners in the private sector as well. … We have to create opportunities with the vacancies we have in the city for people to come in and work, right? We can’t just walk up to you and say ‘stop what you’re doing’ if we don’t have something to offer you.”

Not long after the mayor announced, “The People’s Plan,” a group of faith leaders, including Father Michael Pfleger, penned a critical Chicago Tribune OpEd that said, in part, “’The People’s Plan’ continues the Chicago way of a mayor claiming to prioritize violence reduction without guaranteeing funding, formal avenues for community participation, or safeguard of transparency and accountability.”

When asked to respond, Gatwood said, “We’re always happy to work with anybody and we also have public quarterly meetings that are open to everybody in the public. Not only have we had funding, our office has dedicated $100 million to violence prevention. … This is going to have to continue to grow, and this is going to continue to evolve. (We’re) Always happy for partnership.”

Diane Archer lost both her sons, Sheridan and Brandon, to gun violence, two children dead in shootings five months apart.

She is suspicious of the plan. Previous mayors have promised an all hands on deck city approach.

“It’s just like ‘Yeah, ok, we’ve heard it before.’ When is it going to happen? … All I see is something happens to a police officer, they’re finding him real quick, they’re doing everything, going above and beyond to find the killers who hurt or harm the police officers. But it’s just not enough for an everyday person getting killed at a part or a backyard party. You can’t hardly go nowhere.”

Chicago Police report a year over year 14 percent decline in murders and an 8 percent decline in shootings. Robberies, though, have remained steady, increasing almost half a percent.

Victim advocate and street pastor Donovan Price helped the Johnson administration devise The People’ Plan. He travels to shootings across the city to help grieving families. Price confirms what CPD numbers show.

More: Brandon Johnson reflects on first year as Chicago mayor

“The numbers seem to be lower, the type of crimes seems to be shifting, slightly,” he said. “Fewer shootings, more robberies, but it’s all crime, it’s all tragedy, it’s all traumatic.”

Tahman Bradley: “Just from my conversation with Diane she’s willing to give it a shot to get at the root causes, but she wanted more law enforcement, she wanted police to be a part of this. Do you think that is a focus of this administration. Are they focused enough on the police portion of this?”

Price: “Well, as I said, it has to go hand in hand, it has to work almost jointly, and unfortunately, it’s still a little uneven, and the people who feel that unevenness of it are the victims and such.”

Gatewood said the four targeted neighborhoods will see more police, but they’re playing the long game looking to revitalize and rebuild.

Tahman Bradley: “How will you measure success?”

Gatwood: “We see numbers going down but the feeling of safety needs to go up. So I think the biggest measure of success is when all people in the city of Chicago start to feel safer.”

This week, WGN’s Jewell Hillery asked Johnson if he thinks his new approach to public safety has alleviated people’s safety fears. The mayor would only say there is still more work to be done.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.