CeaseFire warns loss of state funding could result in more shootings | Chicago

CeaseFire warns loss of state funding could result in more shootings

Posted: 03/10/2015, 05:35pm | Frank Main

Dr. Gary Slutkin (pictured in 2012), the founder of CeaseFire Illinois, warned Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday of the possibility of a flare-up of shootings in Chicago unless state funding for the antiviolence program is restored. | Al Podgorski~Chicago Sun-Times

The founder of CeaseFire Illinois warned Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday of the possibility of a flare-up of shootings in Chicago unless state funding for the antiviolence program is restored.

CeaseFire, whose efforts to prevent retaliatory shootings received international attention in the documentary “The Interrupters,” was notified on March 4 that its state grant was suspended as part of Rauner’s budget cuts.

On Tuesday, CeaseFire founder Dr. Gary Slutkin wrote to Rauner that the $4.5 million grant represents most of the funding for CeaseFire Illinois, which he said serves 18 communities in Chicago and six outside of the city.

“The state of Illinois cannot afford to interrupt the CeaseFire program,” Slutkin said in his letter. “Lives depend on this program.”

Slutkin said the governor should consider CeaseFire an essential state program not subject to budget cuts.

“People’s health and safety should not be relegated to ‘non-essential’ service status and treated like property leases, office space and energy consumption savings measures,” he said.

An interruption in CeaseFire’s funding in 2007 under Gov. Rod Blagojevich had coincided with a steep rise in shootings in Chicago, Slutkin said.

CeaseFire also held a $1 million contract with the city of Chicago to combat gun violence in the Grand Crossing and Ogden police districts between mid-2012 and mid-2013, but the contract was not renewed.

CeaseFire warns loss of state funding could result in more shootings | Chicago