Overview
- Hundreds of community violence intervention workers convened at the South Shore Cultural Center to mark progress and coordinate next steps after four consecutive years of falling shootings.
- Chicago recorded 417 homicides in 2025, the lowest in roughly 60 years, down 29% from 2024 and nearly 50% from 2021, with early 2026 showing nine fewer killings than the same point last year.
- A report by Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science, prepared for the Government Alliance for Safe Communities, found communities with greater CVI investment saw the largest safety gains.
- Public funding has scaled up with $248 million awarded by state, county and city since 2022, including about $32 million from Chicago and $20 million from Cook County, as Gov. J. B. Pritzker maintains CVI support in his FY2027 budget proposal and donors pledge tens of millions.
- Providers highlight a growing professional workforce of credible messengers—such as 718 trained through the Metropolitan Peace Academy—while warning that expiring stimulus funds and past federal cuts threaten stability, a point disputed by police-aligned critics who oppose shifting resources from law enforcement.