CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Thursday establishing an Office of Gun Violence Reduction, in what he said was an attempt to cement his anti-violence strategies.

Johnson pitched the signing as a first step toward creating a permanent Department of Gun Violence Reduction, a city agency long called for by activists that would need City Council support. Johnson signed the order days after high-profile faith leaders held their own news conference calling on the mayor to create the department.

On Monday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger of Auburn Gresham’s St. Sabina Church said the mayor’s recent firing of Garien Gatewood, deputy mayor for public safety, proved the need for the new department.

With the executive order Johnson said he is making sure policies like youth summer jobs and violence interrupter work aren’t “contingent upon who’s on the Fifth Floor.” Chicago faces a gun violence crisis, he said.

The activists pushing for the department shared a draft of the ordinance to create it Monday. Their proposal would embed power among faith leaders and anti-violence activists to steer the work.

The ordinance would create an advisory commission with members chosen by the mayor, which would select three finalists for the top job in the new department. The mayor would pick from among the finalists, but could then only fire the commissioner for cause.

“For far too long in this city, we have not met the scale of this challenge with the urgency needed to transcend the systemic neglect that has left lasting scars in too many of our communities,” Johnson said.

Facing a tough re-election campaign if he seeks a second term, Johnson could also soon be seeking the support of faith leaders like Pfleger.

It remains unclear how aldermen will react to Johnson’s push for the new department, in part because the mayor has not clearly said how much he expects such a department to cost. Only five aldermen stood with him as he added his signature in his ceremonial office. Faith leaders on Monday said they hoped the department would have a $100 million annual budget.

Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, the executive director of Live Free Illinois and a leader in the push for the department, said the effort to create a new city agency focused solely on gun violence “is not about creating more government.”

“It’s about creating better government,” she said. “What we can’t afford is becoming morally bankrupt, questioning the cost of saving lives while accepting the cost of burying them.”

The order also creates a gun violence-focused cabinet position in Johnson’s administration and an advisory council that has not yet been named.

The new office will be led by Johnson’s deputy mayor for community safety, Emmanuel Andre, and includes at least six staffers, though it is unclear if those positions will be filled by new hires or people already employed by the administration.

Andre told reporters the new office will have procurement powers not currently available to his Office of Community Safety, the administration’s agency tasked with overseeing efforts to address gun violence, as well as other safety issues. The new office will not replace the Office of Community Safety, Johnson said.

Asked how much a permanent new department might cost, Johnson said the city is already spending “well over” $150 million on programs he envisions such a department running.

“And that admittedly is not enough, it’s not,” he said. “There’s not a price that you can place on my child and their existence and their ability to live free from violence, and what I want for my children, I want for every single family.”

He called on the city’s biggest businesses and wealthiest residents to “put more skin in the game,” a common refrain from the mayor who has repeatedly pushed for new taxes on the rich — and a sign he may pair the push for the new department with a push for such taxes.

Johnson touted the sharp decrease in shootings and murders seen in Chicago in the last two years. He credited the decline to policies backed by his administration, including community violence intervention programs and mental health services, adding that he is frustrated by City Council members “who say they love this city and refuse to admit that the work that they said wouldn’t work is working.”

“Now is the time to double down on our efforts and not shy away from what has proven to be effective,” he said.

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