The challenge
Gun violence spread through retaliation in a few Chicago neighborhoods.
The case
Founded in Chicago in 2000 by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, Cure Violence hires 'violence interrupters', often former gang members, to mediate disputes before they turn into shootings, and outreach workers to steer high-risk people toward services. Evaluations show inconsistent results: some sites and cities saw significant drops in shootings, while others saw no effect. Its success seems to depend heavily on staffing, funding stability and local conditions. The Northwestern evaluation found that in four of seven sites, CeaseFire was associated with significant declines in actual and attempted shootings ranging from 17 to 24 percent.
Why the results were mixed
Credible messengers can reach people police cannot, but the model is hard to implement consistently. Stop-start funding has undermined many sites.
Sources
- Skogan, W. G., et al. (2008). Evaluation of CeaseFire-Chicago. Northwestern University.
- Skogan, W. G., et al. (2008). Evaluation of CeaseFire-Chicago. Northwestern University.
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