Chicagoans love and defend our city fiercely, and for good reason. From the Garfield Park Conservatory to the South Shore Cultural Center, to our more than 600 parks, to our world-renowned research and academic institutions, our pride is justified.
It is also true that Chicago’s gun violence and crime have long been a political punchline. But lowering crime rates here does not require an occupation of our city by armed members of the National Guard, as the White House continues to threaten us with. Chicagoans, including survivors of violence, have spoken out against such an extreme measure.
Sending in the National Guard is the wrong solution to a real problem. If President Trump had listened to the city’s leaders, he would recognize that Chicago just experienced record-low homicide numbers, making this the safest summer since the 1960s, a result of effective collaboration between communities and law enforcement.
Let me be clear: As long as there is a single family that loses a loved one to gun violence, we still have work to do. Even at a six-decade low, the level of violence we see in our city is unacceptable, and we are working every day to drive down violence and prevent shootings.
The importance of this effort is not theoretical for me. My wife and I are raising our three children in the Austin community, on the West Side of Chicago. As much as I love our neighborhood, it is one of the parts of our city where gun violence is most pervasive. At my own home, I’ve had to replace a window shattered by a stray bullet. I’ve lost neighbors and members of my church community. It is because I go to sleep and wake up on the West Side every day that I feel so strongly about finding lasting solutions to Chicago’s persistent problem with gun violence.
While the causes of crime and violence are complex, it is clear that poverty plays a central role. The neighborhoods with the most shootings have long been some of the most impoverished. In these neighborhoods, we often see high levels of unemployment and underfunded local schools as well as a lack of mental health services. The National Guard will not and cannot address those needs.
For much of the last six decades, Chicago’s leaders have pursued various “tough on crime” strategies targeting guns, drugs and gangs. Despite the significant resources devoted to these strategies, sustained reductions in crime proved elusive.
This is why I push back when people make it seem as though adding an arbitrary number of police officers — or armed soldiers — will solve the problem. If it were that easy, we would have solved the issue of violence a long time ago.
My administration has managed to make progress in crime reduction with three interconnected strategies: effective and law-abiding policing, violence prevention and addressing the root causes of crime.
Under the leadership of my police superintendent, Larry Snelling, we formed a robbery task force, concentrated our resources on the 35 most violent beats, and revamped our detectives bureau. We have laid the groundwork for the long-term transformation of the relationship between underserved communities and the police, providing the credibility necessary to calm tensions when they arise.
Our violence prevention work includes programs that employ former gang members to de-escalate conflicts as well as initiatives that connect people to jobs and resources. This work is centered on the idea that preventing the next shooting is just as critical as solving the last one.
We have directed funding to neighborhoods that have suffered from chronic disinvestment to create jobs, provide mental health services and more. We are on track to build, rehab or preserve over 10,000 units of affordable housing.
When the people of Chicago elected me, many people made dire predictions about how a progressive, Black union organizer would handle crime in the city. Some said violence would skyrocket and that police officers would resign en masse in protest. After more than two years in office, the reality is belied by our results.
My priority is to make Chicago the safest big city in America. If our efforts are successful, we’ll demonstrate that the progressive approach to driving down crime is not only more just, it is also more effective. We don’t need the National Guard; we just need to invest in what works.
Brandon Johnson, a former public-school teacher and union organizer, is the 57th mayor of Chicago.
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