CHICAGO — A coalition of Chicago faith leaders and activists wants the city to create a new top anti-violence office at City Hall with a community board shaping who the mayor picks as its top official.

The group called Monday for the City Council and Mayor Brandon Johnson to establish a Department of Gun Violence Prevention to solidify the city’s ongoing anti-violence efforts. They argued the change would protect policies like funding for violence interruption workers from political changes and put more focus on driving down shootings.

The new department would replace the city’s existing Office of Community Safety, which is headed by a mayor-appointed deputy mayor. Many faith leaders were upset when Johnson fired the prior person in that position, Garien Gatewood.

It would be much more difficult under the new rules for a mayor to unilaterally make such a move, instead vesting much more of the authority in an advisory commission with members chosen by the mayor, which would select three finalists for the top job. The mayor would pick from among the finalists, but could then only fire the commissioner for cause.

For too long, the city has tried to “rebuild the plane while it is in the air, under every administration,” said Rev. Beth Brown, pastor at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church. “

“Gun violence is a public health crisis. It’s a community crisis, and it’s a systems challenge that requires coordination, investment and long-term commitment,” Brown said. “Peace should not depend on who occupies city hall. Peace should be policy, peace should be infrastructure, peace should be permanent.”

The demand came after a three-day stretch in which 39 people were shot throughout the city, six fatally, according to the Chicago Police Department, and President Donald Trump once again highlighted Chicago violence. Still, shootings and murders remain far below previous levels after sharply dropping last year, according to department data.

Gatewood’s firing by Johnson proved the need for the new department, said longtime anti-violence leader Father Michael Pfleger of Auburn Gresham’s St. Sabina Church.

“I don’t care who’s the mayor, who is over the department,” Pfleger said. “That’s the whole reason why we’ve been screaming since 2018 to say, ‘Put something in that’s permanent, and then we don’t have to worry about it.'”

Johnson is heading into a tough re-election battle during which he will be seeking the support of powerful faith leaders who can help drive voter turnout within their congregations. He is supportive of the new department, according to Emanuel Andre, the deputy mayor for community safety who succeeded Gatewood.

Johnson has credited the city’s major decline in homicides — from 587 in 2024 to a six-decade low of 416 in 2025 — in large part to the work of the Office of Community Safety he established on his first day at City Hall. The office also plays key roles addressing other safety issues, such as the social-media fueled large youth gatherings that have at times ended with violence in recent years.

But Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois, the faith-based anti-violence group that organized the news conference, said the Office of Community Safety — which replaced a pre-existing Office of Violence Reduction — is too broadly stretched and not stable enough to address one of Chicago’s biggest public health crises: people being shot.

The new department would have stronger procurement powers and would be less likely to see new people put in charge as different mayors take over at City Hall, she said.

“We are taking a step toward ensuring that gun violence reduction is not treated as a temporary initiative but as a permanent commitment,” Bates-Chamberlain said. “We cannot continue to approach gun violence as though it is a seasonal issue, an election issue, or an issue that can be addressed through short-term solutions.”

Johnson’s own Office of Community Safety has seen major and sudden changes in recent months, particularly in Johnson’s sudden firing of Gatewood.

Gatewood and others close to him argued the firing was driven by retaliation for ethics complaints he filed against administration officials, though Johnson’s top staff said the mayor wanted to move the office “in a different direction.”

Bates-Chamberlain said the coalition is working with Johnson’s administration to establish an executive order facilitating the creation of the new department. The group plans to propose an ordinance to establish the department in July, teeing it up to be considered by aldermen as budget negotiations start in the fall.

The ordinance calls for a commissioner role to be added, along with at least 19 additional jobs, according to a draft version obtained by the Tribune. An advisory commission, whose 16 members would include at least two faith leaders, would select finalists for the commissioner role. The mayor could only fire the commissioner “for cause,” but could fire the commissioner with or without cause with the mayor-appointed advisory committee’s support.

The hiring and firing rules would take power away from mayors, an apparent point of concession by Johnson that comes after Gatewood’s sudden firing surprised and rankled some anti-violence leaders.

The group is seeking $100 million for the department, but aims to be “budget neutral” by using money already spent by other city departments, said Artinese Myrick, Live Free Illinois deputy director.

“There’s been hundreds of millions allocated toward community safety funds, and we want to be able to coordinate those dollars,” she said.

Johnson did not attend the Monday event, but Andre said the administration backs for establishing a new department.

“What this does, and we’ll let the experts speak to this, but what this does is create a stabilized department long term that is not just responding to the winds of today as we battle with sustained issues that we have been facing for decades,” he said.

In a statement, Johnson said the new office is part of his administration’s “full force of government approach to build safer, stronger communities.”

Trump suggested once again Sunday that he ought to send in federal law enforcement agents to address Chicago gun violence in a morning post on his social media network, Truth Social.

“Lots of Killing going on in Chicago,” Trump wrote. “I could make Chicago a safe City in ONE MONTH, in ONE YEAR, it would be one of the safest!!!”

Pfleger criticized the remarks and called on Trump to restore federal funding for anti-gun violence programs that his administration has slashed.

“Shut up, Donald. Just send money,” he said. “Give the money back now.”

_____

©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.