West Creek Blueprint for a Safe Chicago

The working title of the project reflects its positioning as a transition workgroup, expanding the Building a Safe Chicago report and coalition of 2016 into a broader, more mature network able to both convene a purpose and principles discussion (using a Square One-type approach, but for Chicago) and advocate with particularity for something akin to Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace – in depth and detail, if not content – updating both its findings and goals accordingly. As compared to 2016, the landscape going into 2020 is different and the table – and menu of responses - must also be different. Now is the time to make bold, prospective plans aimed at aimed at reducing the harms of gun violence and the criminal justice system. The original Building a Safe Chicago coalition was a rapid-response group comprised primarily of criminal justice reform organizations. The current climate, advancements in research, policy and practice, and lessons learned have created an opportunity to move beyond rapid response to facilitating and sustaining real reductions in violence. This requires the development of a broader coalition, particularly that of practitioners, survivors, community residents who feel the impact of guns, trauma and violence on a daily basis, researchers, community-based advocacy groups, public health experts, and allies in the areas of (and at the intersection of) gun violence prevention and intervention, gun policy, and criminal justice reform. Original coalition members ILJP and CFJC, along with new primary partners, READI and N3, expect a great deal of new research, data, and policy proposals from both government actors and advocacy partners to surface within the next six months. By building a nimble coalition capable of synthesizing lived experience with research, data, and advocacy initiatives, the partners expect to a) bring to scale a strong network capable of analyzing and responding to these new proposals; b) offer its own recommendations for