Thread by @ScottHech

THREAD: Working w/ public defenders in Chicago. Concerned about gun violence. They know well policing isn't helping. It traumatizes & traps the people they represent. Steals energy & resources needed to heal. Instead of supporting community violence interruption that works. More:

Public defenders care deeply about public safety & public health. For them. Their families. For the people & communities they serve every single day. Their opinions however get sidelined & overlooked by media. Bc their ideas aren't simple, gut reaction. But their ideas will work.

Let's start with what we know: If police, prosecutors, jails, prisons actually made us healthier and safer, we'd be the healthiest and safest country on planet earth, in all of history, in all of time. And guess what folks? We're far far from it. aclu.org/news/criminal-…

Whenever media sensationalizes "rising crime rates" & police start screaming for more money & less investment in alternatives, think: Given the historic amount we spend on police, if they actually made us safer, there shouldn't be crime at all, let alone "rising." It's a big lie.

A cycle Chicago defenders know: Current response to gun violence--arrests, flooding streets w/ police, blaming judges for releasing people presumed innocent--has lead to more gun violence. More gun violence leads to fear & trauma. Fear & trauma leads to more people carrying guns.

Chicago defenders know: Predominately young Black & Brown children, who are harmed themselves & traumatized, are forced to grow up faster. But instead of support, education, investment, they're arrested, prosecuted, & caged for carrying guns.

In Illinois, a loaded gun w/o a license is a violent felony. Communities are failed by the city & state. People live in fear. Of police. Violence. Carry to protect themselves & their families. Then are punished. And released as a "violent felon" & further marginalized. A cycle.

Chicago public defenders--like defenders throughout the country--see this cycle play out everyday. And right now, police enabled by the media are selling Chicagoans on continuing this. So what's the alternative?

Here's a proven one: Violence interruption:jsonline.com/story/news/spe…

The "Interrupters Model," pays & trains trusted insiders of a community to anticipate where violence will occur & intervene before it erupts. Work in neighborhoods & hospitals. Meet w/ survivors to help & prevent retaliation. Works w/ people at highest risk for causing harm.

Violence interruption works: 31% drop in homicides & 19% in shootings in two Chicago districts where interrupters worked. And significantly more cost effective, especially when measured against outsized policing *that has been proven by their own stats not to work at all.*

Violence interruption is also popular (when people know about it). “78% support violence interruption strategies for reducing violent crime & 65% of voters believe violence interruption makes more sense than increasing the number of police in communities.”thejusticecollaborative.com/2020/06/new-re…

So what can you do? Stop continuing to buy the hysterical coverage by the media peddling police talking points that somehow investing in more of the same will work. Understand violence as a public health issue that we--as a society--have failed to properly address. Please.

So what can you do? Learn more about and consider investing in violence interruptor programs in your community. There are far too few. These need to go from test cases to citywide initiatives. violenceinterrupters.org

So what can you do? In Chicago at least, support extraordinary local organizations. Like: Good Kids Mad City (@GKMC18): teenvogue.com/story/good-kid…

So what can you do? In Chicago at least, support extraordinary local organizations. Like: UCAN Chicago (@UCANchicago) ucanchicago.org

So what can you do? In Chicago at least, support extraordinary local organizations. Like: Readi Chicago. This 18-months program providers cognitive behavioral therapy and employment. The men they work with have on average 18 arrests -- 30% have been shot. heartlandalliance.org/readi/