How $200 million could save thousands of lives lost to gun violence in Chicago

Why not challenge ourselves to reduce gun violence by 25% in each of the next five years?

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The march through Auburn-Gresham to demand an end to gun violence. | Scott Olson/Getty Images

Chicagoans march through the city’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood on June 15 to demand that City Hall do more to end gun violence.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Even as Chicago faces an $838 million budget deficit, improving public safety and reducing gun violence is a top priority.

As we begin work on the city’s next budget, it’s critical that we invest additional funding in violence prevention efforts that will save lives, stabilize communities and save money.

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According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, local and state taxpayers last year spent about $3.5 billion coping with Chicago’s gun violence, which took the lives of 569 people and injured about 2,000 others. That $3.5 billion paid for the health care costs for victims and the policing, prosecution and incarceration of the shooters.

The real cost is even higher when we consider money not invested in Chicago by the private sector due to our city’s reputation for violence.

If the city, Cook County, State of Illinois and private sector came together and invested a fraction of that $3.5 billion in proven violence prevention programs over the next five years, we could save thousands of people from death and injury, spare many more the grief and agony of the loss and pain of their loved ones, and provide a real chance to tens of thousands of young people trapped in under-resourced communities.

Moreover, we could save taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

Chicago’s murder rate is three times higher than Los Angeles’ rate and six times higher than New York’s. To reduce Chicago’s annual per-capita murder rate to a level comparable to that in L.A. or New York, the city would have to reduce the number of murders by 120 — a roughly 80% decrease.

Since 2016, gun violence in Chicago has been declining by about 15% per year, yet each weekend we see the tragic effects of gun violence on families, communities, and especially on our youth. This is an issue that affects us all.

Why not challenge ourselves to reduce gun violence by 25% in each of the next five years? We believe there are new ways to bring improved safety to our communities.

It starts by rebuilding trust between police and community. Decades of harsh policing have left deep wounds of mistrust in neighborhoods of Chicago. To this end, 29 aldermen have cosponsored the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability ordinance to create civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department and help restore the trust.

With so many guns on the streets, the police are wary going into every encounter. Improving policing and stopping the flow of illegal guns will require new and better gun laws, a big investment in police training and more support for the police to help them cope with the pressures of the job.

To Chicago’s credit, this work is underway, but we have a long way to go.

Second, we have to increase investment in community organizations that are doing the hard work every day of reclaiming public spaces, empowering local residents and building opportunities for the highest risk young adults. With community input, Chicago is designing violence prevention strategies tailored to each neighborhood.

This work can happen only if the communities own it and drive it.

We have to invest in the kind of intervention programs piloted by organizations like the Youth Peace Center in Roseland, the Institute for Non-Violence in Austin, and Enlace in Little Village. They focus on young men between the ages of 16 and 24 who are at a particular risk of shooting or being shot. Many have criminal records. Few have high school degrees. Most get caught up in violence for a lack of alternatives.

Lastly, we must cut off the pipeline of young people into gangs by providing many more safe spaces for an estimated 50,000 kids in Chicago’s 15 most violence-plagued neighborhoods. That includes after-school, evening and weekend programming for kids that are at severe risk of leaving school otherwise.

Chicago can reach its goal with an investment of about $200 million per year, which, when compared to the $3.5 billion spent last year to cope with violence, is a small price.

The first move falls to the City of Chicago. The city has an Office of Violence Prevention now, but it is underfunded and understaffed compared to New York and L.A. We and a number of our City Council colleagues have introduced an ordinance that would commit $50 million per year to gun violence prevention.

This city funding, combined with state, county, and private financial support, can take these programs to scale.

Reducing gun violence is the defining issue we face as a city. It affects how people live, go to school and go to work every day. And it affects the future of our residents and the safe growth of our communities.

The time is now to invest in our safety and save lives.

Harry Osterman is alderman of the 48th Ward. Roderick Sawyer is alderman of the 6th Ward. Chris Taliaferro is alderman of the 29th Ward. Susan Sadlowski Garza is alderman of the 10th Ward.

Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.

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