WTTW has launched Firsthand: Peacekeepers, a new documentary project that tells the personal stories of five Chicagoans who are peacekeepers in their communities. All this week, we will be featuring new journalism from the WTTW News team that shines a light on violence prevention efforts.
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The Chicago CRED outreach team listens to outreach coordinator Terrance Henderson on Jan. 28, 2025. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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The May 2020 police murder of George Floyd not only spurred nationwide calls for criminal justice reform amid a racial reckoning, but also supercharged the ongoing push to reimagine what public safety meant in Chicago after the police murder of Laquan McDonald. Despite ample evidence violence prevention programs can effectively break the cycle of crime and violence all too familiar to many Black and Latino Chicagoans, the programs’ futures are uncertain, threatening their initial success.
These groups — under the banner of violence prevention and community violence intervention – work to stop shootings, carjackings, assaults or robberies before they happen by addressing what causes people to commit the vast majority of crimes in the first place: trauma, abuse and poverty. For more than a decade, several violence prevention groups, like Ceasefire, operated on shoestring budgets in some of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods under the radar. Later, an effort that relied not on taxpayer dollars but on private funds from Chicago’s philanthropic and business community led by former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Chicago CRED, or Create Real Economic Destiny, quietly took root.
A quote:
“This is too important not to invest in,” said Peter Cunningham, of Chicago CRED. Advocates for violence prevention programs are now staring into a financial abyss after hitting the so-called “fiscal cliff,” as Chicago’s federal COVID-19 relief funds — the city’s largest source of funding since 2021 — dwindle.
What’s next:
City and state officials, grappling with multibillion-dollar deficits, will be hard-pressed to replace the now-exhausted COVID-19 relief funds. And it is unlikely that President Donald Trump, elected on a platform that promised to restore “law, order, safety and peace” with a return to aggressive policing, will support budgets that include significant amounts of money for non-law enforcement approaches to public safety threats. No one is quite sure what happens next.
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Leighton Criminal Court Building (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has instructed her office to stop diverting people with gun possession charges to the county’s Restorative Justice Community Courts (RJCC), which reroute young people with nonviolent charges from criminal courts to an alternative program.
Some backstory: The RJCC started in 2017 as an alternative take to justice. Inside four courtrooms in Avondale, North Lawndale, Englewood and suburban Sauk Village, a person charged must accept the responsibility for the harm they caused and participate in a peace circle to create a “Repair of Harm Agreement.” That agreement could include community service, job training, counseling, paying for damages or restitution with victims. Those eligible must be 18-26 years old, have been charged with a nonviolent felony or misdemeanor and have a nonviolent criminal history.
Why the change? The State’s Attorney’s Office, which now has a new leader, says they prefer alternative approaches that move away from the peace circle model and instead toward gun education and a path toward Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards. Those who advocate for the restorative justice model say reducing the types of cases that are referred would cut back on the rehabilitation opportunities the courts afford to eligible young people.
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Artist Shar Coulson in her studio. (Courtesy of Shar Coulson)
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A serious health scare became an unexpected catalyst for change for a Chicago-based artist. While recovering from open-heart surgery in 2021, Shar Coulson experienced trippy visions that ultimately shaped her artwork. The paintings she made are the focus of “NIGHT SIGHT: Illuminating the Mind’s Eye Through Darkness,” an exhibition at the International Museum of Surgical Science — the Gold Coast museum of medicine that also boasts a healthy contemporary art program.
Coulson spoke with WTTW News about her unusual encounter with the healing powers of art and science.
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More From WTTW News
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Chicago is in the grips of a deep freeze, with dangerously cold conditions forecast throughout the week. The worst is expected Monday night into Tuesday morning, when wind chills will plummet to 20 to 30 degrees below zero.
- A new film, “Not To Be,” captures the dance and poetry performances of Theatre Y participants inside Stateville Correctional Center.
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Back in the Day: February 17, 2003 - E2 Nightclub Fire
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The E2 Nightclub was a South Loop venue designed to hold 240 people. On this day 22 years ago, more than 1,000 people, four times as many people as its capacity, packed into the space for a party. When a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight, a stampede formed. Partygoers rushed to the exits, jamming the stairwell. Twenty-one people died. While E2’s owners were charged with 21 counts of involuntary manslaughter, they were never convicted. The building at 2347 S. Michigan Ave. has been empty
since the tragedy. While some victims' families wanted the building torn down and a memorial built in its place, the Landmarks Commission voted in 2024 to keep the building standing because of, as ABC7 put it, "its connection to the city's historic Motor Row District."
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The Week's Civic Events and Meetings
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
Rugby on the Rise
The City Club of Chicago hosts a panel discussion Wednesday at noon titled "Rugby Rising: Chicago Takes the Lead" on the increasing popularity of the spork nationwide and Chicago's position at the forefront.
Racial, Social and Cultural Equity
The University of Chicago's crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice will host a talk on advancing equity in an era of unprecedented challenges. The Wednesday event runs from 6:30-8 p.m. and is open to the public.
City Council
The Chicago City Council is set to meet for a regular meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
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Do you believe in Chicago's 'dibs' tradition? Why or why not?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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