Community leaders to unveil $600 million, 15-point plan to reduce violence in Chicago

Is it possible to be sincere and sarcastic at the same time? If so, good luck.

Michael Johnson to announce $600 million plan to reduce Chicago violence https://t.co/0UJpqukR2T via @CapTimes

— Peter Nickeas (@PeterNickeas) February 21, 2017

Gun violence in Chicago is no joke: according to the Chicago Sun-Times, there were around 780 homicides in the city in 2016, an increase of nearly 60 percent from 2015 — enough to skew the entire national average. Sorry, Shaun King: you can’t warp time enough to lay that at President Trump’s feet.

So, could $600 million put a dent in violent crime in Chicago? Abigail Becker of the Capital Times reports that Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson will unveil a 15-point plan Thursday at Chicago Police Department headquarters, and they’d like President Trump and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to invest.

Some of the 15 points:

• Re-purposing $100 million over four years from the correctional system to employ thousands of inner city men
• Engaging youth in providing solutions with Chicago Peace Project
• Employing thousands of youth during summer months
• Lobbying for policies that address social justice issues
• Providing mentoring and executive coaching for inner city men in the workplace
• Providing alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders
• Building new community centers in targeted neighborhoods

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Obviously, jobs are central to the plan, as are mentoring and counseling for inner-city men.

this is a pitch, right? the money isn't there yet right?

— Charlie J. Johnson (@Charliemagne) February 21, 2017

yup

— Peter Nickeas (@PeterNickeas) February 21, 2017

Becker reports that Mayor Paul Soglin dedicated $400,000 in Madison, Wisconsin’s 2017 operating budget to implement a similar 15-point plan proposal.

Any chance that current leadership will come up with $600 million for Chicago? President Obama, who purchased a house there, did give Chicago a lovely parting gift in January in the form of a $1.1 billion grant … for work on its Red Line elevated train.