WATCH NOW: Gov. Pritzker Declares ‘CVI is Where It’s At,’ Calls for Continued Funding

Governor J.B. Pritzker addresses the crowd at a press conference announcing a $100 million investment into community violence intervention work on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at Crown Family Philanthropies downtown.

“CVI is where it’s at,” said Governor J.B. Pritzker at the announcement of an historic investment into a public-private partnership to mitigate gun violence in the state of Illinois. 

Governor Pritzker, along with state legislators, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and philanthropic, business and community leaders gathered for a press conference on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, to highlight $175 million in CVI funding in the state’s Reimagine Public Safety Act, as well as announce a fundraising milestone of $100 million in private funding to expand CVI programming across Chicago. 

Intended to be a long-term approach to curbing gun violence, CVI work will need consistent, continuous financial and community support, said the governor.

“We have a lot of other tools, but CVI is what makes us reduce crime across the City of Chicago. If we can keep this going, we will succeed,” Governor Pritzker said.

This massive financial investment aims to target city residents who are most likely to be a perpetrator or victim of gun violence as a part of “Scaling CVI for a Safer Chicago” (SC2), an effort to increase Chicago’s proven CVI infrastructure and model, with approaches that include street outreach, behavioral health, workforce development, legal aid, and organizational development.

After a violent Fourth of July weekend, Mayor Brandon Johnson reaffirmed the need for CVI throughout Chicago, emphasizing that currently, only around 15-20 percent of the 20,000 individuals eligible are being reached. 

“The tragedy began before the bullet was fired. […] The tragedy was that we didn’t have enough to provide our people with the quality of life they deserve,” said Johnson. 

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives Vice President and Executive Director Vaughn Bryant added, “Thanks to our donors for getting us to this milestone. Thank you to our public and private sector donors that helped us get to this point. […] Today, we’re going to move the ball forward in making our city the safest city in the world.”

“While $100 million sounds like a lot, it is not enough to support these communities”, said Esther Franco-Payne, Executive Director of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities. “Going forward, we are determined to bring CVI to scale in every community where it is needed.”

Eric Smith, Vice President at BMO and Public Safety Co-Chair of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago said of the investment, “The [Chicago] business community is all in on public safety. In order for our city and state to grow and thrive we must reduce gun violence.

Attendees included the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, Arne Duncan of Chicago CRED, Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon, Illinois State Senator Robert Peters, Illinois State Senator Reggie R. Sims, Jr., Illinois State Representative Justin Slaughter, and Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling, 

Watch the entire press conference below.