Activists Press For Permanent Gun Violence Reduction Department After Mass Shooting Wounds 14

CITY HALL — In the wake of a mass shooting in Roseland on Friday and a summer uptick in violence across Chicago, a coalition of government officials, activists and faith leaders are calling on the city to establish a formal department focused exclusively on reducing gun violence.

Backers gathered at City Hall Monday to announce their support of an ordinance that would replace the city’s Office of Community Safety with a standalone Department on Gun Violence Reduction.

The creation of a department instead of an office would bring with it greater funding, procurement power, more staff and generally more authority to coordinate violence prevention efforts at City Hall, according to supporters who’ve been behind the push under previous mayoral administrations.

Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, the executive director of anti-violence group Live Free Illinois, said a formal ordinance to create the department is set to be introduced this summer to the City Council. South Side Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st) confirmed that he would be one of the legislation’s sponsors.

Rev. Beth Brown, with the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, said a full-scale gun violence reduction department would ensure consistent policies and initiatives continue under future mayoral administrations, giving stability to violence intervention groups and other organizations.

It would also create a community advisory board and coordinate broader programs like victim, youth and workforce services, Brown said.

“We cannot continue to rebuild the plane while it is in the air under every administration,” Brown said. “Chicago deserves a permanent infrastructure dedicated to reducing violence and increasing safety. Today, we are not simply creating a department, we are creating accountability, we are creating sustainability, we are creating coordination and we are creating a long-term commitment to the people of Chicago.”

The push to create a permanent gun violence reduction department is in some ways similar to one that led to the resurrection in 2024 of the city’s Department of Environment by Mayor Brandon Johnson. Activists had called on City Hall to convert the former Office of Climate and Environmental Equity into a full department.

Also present at Monday’s press conference was Emmanuel Andre, the city’s deputy mayor for community safety. Neither Johnson nor representatives from the Chicago Police Department were in attendance.

The Police Department on Monday deferred an inquiry about the ordinance to the Mayor’s Office.

In a statement on Monday afternoon, Johnson said he is in support of the effort to establish the department as a way to build on his administration’s “comprehensive approach” to public safety.

“We continue to listen to faith leaders, community organizations, violence prevention workers, and survivors who have long called for sustained, coordinated action,” Johnson said. “That is why we support establishing a permanent office dedicated to gun violence reduction, ensuring these efforts are aligned, accountable, and sustained over time.”

While Chicago has seen a significant decline in murders and shootings since a post-pandemic spike, this past weekend brought the city’s latest wave of violence. From 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Sunday, 39 people were shot in 24 “shooting incidents,” according to preliminary city data, with six people killed.

That includes at least a dozen people who were wounded in a drive-by mass shooting Friday night in the Princeton Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, in what Johnson called a “horrific act of violence.”

In 2025, Chicago recorded 416 murders, the lowest in 60 years, according to police data, although violence numbers have slightly ticked up so far this year.

Through June 14, there have been 184 murders in Chicago, up from 171 during the same period last year. In the same period, the city recorded 606 shootings, up from 574 in 2025.

Rev. Michael Pfleger, the outspoken anti-violence activist and Catholic priest based out of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham, said a full-fledged gun violence reduction department is necessary to ensure Chicago continues to see declines in violent crime.

“Violence has been down in Chicago, but that’s not a norm. It’s new. It’s good news, but it’s new news. Violence was up last month, and we look at this last weekend to see the violence that [took place] in this city,” Pfleger said on Monday. Violence prevention “must be addressed in a very continuous effort, which is why we need a gun violence office.”

Pfleger also called out President Donald Trump, who over the weekend posted on social media about gun violence in Chicago and questioned why Gov. JB Pritzker wasn’t “calling me for help.”

“I could make Chicago a safe city in ONE MONTH. In ONE YEAR, it would be one of the safest!!!” Trump posted.

“Shut up, Donald. Just send money and restore the money you took away from gun violence prevention,” Pfleger said, referencing cuts made last year by the Trump administation to federal anti-violence programs.

Artinese Myrick, deputy director of Live Free Illinois, said backers hope the gun violence reduction department could have an up to $100 million annual budget. Those dollars could be sourced from allocations that have already been made to other departments, she said.

“There’s been hundreds of millions of dollars allocated towards community safety funds, and we want to be able to coordinate those dollars,” Myrick said.