06/09/2025

ALBANY PARK, CHICAGO — As the second year of Brandon Johnson’s mayorship commences, Chicago’s communities are safer than they’ve been in the past 10 years. As our city mourns the loss of our community members to gun violence in River North last week, and in other attacks across the city during the holiday weekend, the Fourth of July weekend was nonetheless the safest of the last six years. 33WF joins with voices of peace throughout the city to condemn recent attacks, and to dedicate our efforts to proven, compassionate solutions that are already bringing change to our neighborhoods.

Through a shared dedication to human-centered solutions, Mayor Johnson and Ald. Rossana Rodríguez (33rd) have been providing leadership and developing initiatives that place residents’ wellbeing at the forefront, reducing crime and strengthening communities. With programs like Treatment Not Trauma, Ald. Rodríguez’s signature program that fosters an “ecosystem of city-run mental health clinics across Chicago’s neighborhoods that includes a non-police, and peer-supported mental and behavioral health first-responder system,” Chicago is placing its people first and actively preventing crime.

Chicago crime hits historic lows 

Despite bad faith attacks against Mayor Johnson and Ald. Rodríguez from failed mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, whose legacy of financial mismanagement has blighted Chicago’s Public Schools, there’s never been a better time in the past decade to enjoy the vivacity of our city. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) reports: “This Memorial Day weekend, homicides dropped 70% compared to 2024. There were also double-digit declines in shooting incidents, 30% lower, and shooting victims, down 40%.” WTTW, reporting from CPD’s compiled statistics, notes that “Chicago saw significant declines in both the number of shootings and homicides in [February], which both reached their lowest points in any such month since at least 2019 […] The 75 shootings recorded through last month also marks a 42% decline over the same month last year and is the fewest recordings recorded in any February since 2019.”

Property crimes are also falling. WBEZ notes: “Every month since [July 2024] has had a double-digit drop in robberies from the previous year. The first three months of 2025 had the fewest robberies of any quarter in decades.” We have seen similar trends here in the 33rd Ward, where virtually every victimization category statistic is significantly down compared to the same time period in 2024. 

Experts laud the reduction in crime, citing pro-social initiatives as the root of change. “There is a vast ecosystem of interventions and policies and actions and reactions that are leading to these crime declines […]” according to leading crime data analyst Jeff Asher, per WBEZ. 

NPR recently reported that the nationwide reduction in murder rates stems not from militarized police, but investment in community programs. Jeff Asher separately notes, “It provides a means of interrupting cycles of violence." The youth of Chicago, and the nation, deserve care and thriving neighborhoods, not criminal records.

But CPD and ICE run rampant…

When seeking the true source of violence in the city, one need look no further than the aggression of the CPD, and the unconscionable, reckless incursions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paramilitants, who terrorize our neighborhoods and break up families. 

CPD’s violence against our communities has skyrocketed. “Chicago Police Department officers shot 12 people, killing six, during the first five months of 2025, the same number of people officers shot and killed in all of 2024, according to an analysis of city data,” says WTTW. A member of CPD is even alleged to have accidentally shot and killed his partner, Officer Krystal Rivera, as reported by WTTW. Officer Rivera’s family is calling for an investigation due to his history of misconduct violations.

CPD, whose history is rife with federally-recognized racist violence against our residents, is currently obliged to complete court-ordered reforms in order to remediate the structural racism in its ranks. According to WTTW, “CPD has fully complied with just 16% of those court-ordered reforms, known as the consent decree, which requires CPD to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights by the end of 2024, according to the court-appointed monitoring team charged with keep track of reform efforts.” 

Alexandra Block, Director of the Illinois' Criminal Legal System and Policing Project from the ACLU, also says, “Between 2023 and 2024, there was a 47% increase in the use of force by officers, and supervisors corrected officers in only 3% of the time when CPD flagged policy violations.”

On a federal level, ICE’s unlawful and immoral terrorization of our neighbors has expanded this summer, with masked and armed militants kidnapping community members. The Chicago City Council Latinos Caucus denounces these raids: “We condemn in the strongest terms ICE's unlawful detainment practices, particularly the deportation of individuals who are actively participating in the legal immigration process and pose no public safety risk.” 

Even elected officials aren’t immune to ICE’s violence. Our own Ald. Rodríguez, as well as Alds. Fuentes, Quezada, and Sigcho-Lopez were recently assaulted by ICE agents in the South Loop as they bravely tried to protect migrants who were following the law and checking in at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office, only to be kidnapped by ICE .

In recent legislation, the proposed ‘Snap Curfew’ ordinance, vetoed by Mayor Brandon, is a part of the attempts to criminalize teenagers and young people from around the city who need support, not a rap sheet. Rather than punishment, our city must continue to invest in positive programming to address our residents’ needs at the root.

Providing “Treatment Not Trauma”

One of the major programs providing critically-needed resources to our city is Treatment Not Trauma, which both reopens shuttered mental health facilities and provides emergency mental health professionals to respond to crises, without the danger of law enforcement escalation. Originally proposed by Ald. Rodríguez in 2020 and rejected by then-mayor Lori Lightfoot, the program has been reignited under Mayor Johnson’s watch and with Rodríguez’s leadership. Roseland Health Hub, a mental health facility closed in 2012, has been revitalized this year, and will offer free counseling in mental health, sexual health and medication management, with plans underway for more facilities to reopen.

CARE, or the Crisis Assistance Response & Engagement Program, the emergency-response arm of the program, has now hired 19 full-time employees. These resources can be requested citywide by emailing careprogram@cityofchicago.org or by dialing 9-1-1 and requesting The Care Team. Responders will not be law enforcement, but instead mental health professionals. “We want people to be treated, we don't want them to be arrested. We want people to be treated, we don't want them to die,” says Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige.

As funding for preventative care and community healthcare is slashed on a national level, our city’s investment in its people’s wellbeing has never been more critical. “CDPH centers serve communities that are impoverished, underfunded, and lack resources. We cater to a demographic that doesn’t feel seen or heard in the world we live in. Our clinicians provide top tier mental health services that you can expect from a private practice in these neighborhoods for free,” says Kadijat Alaka, Mental Health Center Director of CDPH.

To support the Treatment Not Trauma program, readers can reach out to the Collaborative for Community Wellness as well as spreading the word.

We encourage residents to join 33WF as we continue our work to send working-class champions to Congress, Springfield, and City Council to fight for the progressive reforms and funding we need to build a diverse, affordable, and dynamic #CityForTheMany and not the few!