Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is set to tackle the city’s public safety issues with a significant investment in people and resources. At a public forum in the Little Village neighborhood, Johnson attributed the city’s violence to disinvestment by previous administrations and outlined his vision for a safer Chicago.

“My vision for safety in Chicago is that every single neighborhood has safe spaces, and that we are fully funding our public accommodations: education, transportation, healthcare, jobs,” Johnson explained.

Johnson’s administration has developed the People’s Plan for Community Safety, aiming to create stable neighborhoods by providing economic security. The plan focuses on addressing the root causes of violence by reinvesting in communities.

Community and Police Collaboration

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling emphasized the importance of collaboration between the police and the community. “We have to humanize each other. It can’t be us and them. It’s gotta be us,” Snelling said, stressing that public safety is a shared responsibility.

Economic Security and Guaranteed Income

Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood linked public safety with economic security and guaranteed income. “You look at work like Treatment not Trauma, you look at guaranteed basic income, you look at all this wraparound support that we will get to and why we have taken such a targeted approach to safety and violence in the city,” Gatewood said.

Gatewood, formerly the director of the Illinois Justice Project, highlighted the impact of comprehensive support systems on community safety. The Illinois Justice Project was instrumental in the policy support of the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois in 2021.