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U.S. Attorney Speaks at City Club

On May 21st, 2009, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald spoke at the City Club of Chicago about the efforts of Project Safe Neighborhoods to address gun violence within Chicago. The U.S. Attorney’s key message was that law enforcement cannot successfully eliminate gang and gun violence through prosecution alone. At-risk individuals and ex-offenders require opportunities to access education and employment if they are going to make decisions to avoid a criminal lifestyle. Mr. Fitzgerald encouraged local corporations, as members of the community, to consider opening their hiring process to include ex-offenders. He told luncheon guests to visit the PSN website and asked business and community leaders to support re-entry initiatives by reaching out to the community partners listed on the site, or other worthy community groups addressing these issues. Corporations that are unable to hire ex-offenders can still contribute to re-entry efforts by donating time, money, technical assistance or providing suggestions to re-entry service providers on ways to remove barriers to employment for this population.

See below for media coverage of the U.S. Attorney’s visit to the City Club as well as a press conference held later that day at a PSN parolee forum:

Boeing Representative Participates in PSN Training

Christy Uchida, Community Investor at Boeing’s Global Corporate Citizenship offices, participated in a grant-makers panel at the University of Illinois extension sustainability training on April 8th, 2009. Approximately 20 community-based social service providers attended the all day training on Fund Development. The day culminated with a panel including Ms. Uchida as well as the PSN CAGI fiscal agent, Chris Zack, discussing the grant making process from the perspective of private corporations and government entities. Following their individual presentations, each panel member took questions from the audience to assist providers in improving their grant-writing techniques and identifying potential development opportunities. Cable Access Network (CAN) television recorded the day’s events and will broadcast the panel session at a later date.

The UI extension school development training was one in a series of five sessions on sustaining community-based social service programs. The final training session on Results Oriented Evaluations was held on May 13th. The UI extension school sustainability trainings were funded through a grant from Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative Award

Deputy Attorney General Mark R. Filip announced the intent to award $2 million to both Chicago and Detroit as part of an expansion of the Department of Justice’s 2008 Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative. The awards are designed to help law enforcement develop plans to combat gang violence in these cities and surrounding suburbs, and to implement their own anti-gang strategies using three components of prevention, enforcement, and prisoner reentry. The CAGI grant will bolster PSN Chicago’s evidence-based progress in stemming gang violence through development of new and existing partnerships.

“This funding provides not only necessary resources, but the flexibility for law enforcement in the Chicago area, along with our prevention and reentry partners, to tailor their response to the gang problem here,” said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. “To eradicate the gang threat in our communities, the problem must be addressed at every stage and that is the approach being taken in Chicago by both law enforcement and community organizations.”

Chicago's Safer Neighborhoods

In a city of almost 3 million citizens, the presence of a few hundred extra young people doesn't change everyday life for most of us. But if the downward trend of homicides in Chicago continues, the hundreds of would-be murder victims who have been spared an early death eventually will become thousands.
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2007 Teen Gun Survey

Our juvenile partner, Uhlich Children's Advantage Network, conducted their annual teen gun survey that you can access through the links in this press release.
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National Project Safe Neighborhoods Conference

The national PSN conference met from June 15 - June 17, 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Project Safe Neighborhoods Proven Successful

Sixteen defendants were arrested February 2, 2004 in Chicago, Milwaukee, Memphis (TN), and Indiana on charges relating to the illegal sale and purchase of guns.
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Partners in Crime Prevention

The Safer Foundation and Loretto Hospital take part in PSN Parolee Forums and provide services to ex-offenders to make their transition from prison to law-abiding community life more successful.
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Gun Teams Out in Force

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have jointly created a Gun Team to work as a component of Project Safe Neighborhoods in an effort to decrease the number of violent crimes involving firearms.
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Gun Traffickers Beware

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Chicago has extended its reach beyond the felons with guns program. The new initiative enforced by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has begun to dismantle the problem of gun trafficking in response to the city's title of homicide capital of America.
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