WATCH: City Club of Chicago, MPI Host Panel Discussion on CVI and Law Enforcement
On Tuesday, April 15, City Club of Chicago and Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) hosted a panel titled “Reducing Gun Violence: How the Community and Police Are Working Together.” The discussion centered on the areas where Community Violence Intervention (CVI) workers and law enforcement intersect.
Moderated by MPI Director of Field Instruction Steve Perkins, the panel included Chicago CRED Director of Strategic Initiatives Jalon Arthur; Chicago Police Department (CPD) Director of Community Policing Glen Brooks, Jr.; and the City of Chicago Lead Liaison for Street Outreach Elvis Ortega. With the shared goal of reducing gun violence in Chicago, the panelists discussed how CVI workers and police to promote safety while maintaining distinct and separate operations.
“Before its implementation in 2023, there were unwritten rules that governed how street outreach workers navigated police interaction. Now, there is a ‘professional understanding’ that exists that outlines the complementary, but also, independent roles and rules of engagement of CPD and CVI,” said Perkins, emphasizing how recently this understanding came to be.
The “professional understanding” between CPD and Chicago’s CVI organizations is important as the protocols set clear expectation for CPD and CVI. CVI Street Outreach workers have a unique role in the community which precludes them from communicating with CPD. It preserves their credibility and enables conversation with those most vulnerable to gun violence.
CPD has a different set of challenges. In discussing the challenges of keeping communities safe, Brooks expressed his concern over the availability of firearms and the conflicts that lead to shootings.
“One thing we just have come to grips with is that the number of guns in this city is beyond outrageous. The most difficult part is that people are willing to use guns to settle the most trivial disputes,” Brooks said.
Arthur highlighted the importance of how success is measured in CVI programs, which differs from how CPD measures success. He spoke from his experience in street outreach and with his position at Chicago CRED.
“You will always run into problems when you look at CVI through a criminal justice lens. It needs to be looked at through a public health lens,” Arthur said. “When you look at it through this criminal justice lens, you miss the value of CVI. In fact, you put harmful expectations on CVI because you’re gauging success based on metrics that you use to gauge CPD’s success.”
Ortega ended the panel on a positive note, quashing misconceptions about neighborhoods stereotyped as violent. He specifically pointed to Light in the Night, a Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) initiative that works to reclaim public spaces with free events for the community and families.
“Safety is a feeling, right? You don’t hear of the positives of Little Village — just ‘I’m not going there after 5 p.m.’ I encourage you to visit,” Ortega said. “There are always about 500 kids running around that neighborhood in the park, in front of the school. This is what happens when people come together and say, ‘This is our community. This is our space.’”
Watch the entire panel below.
Video courtesy of City Club of Chicago