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“The City of Chicago is at its best tackling critical issues when government, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector work together towards a common goal.”

– Jennifer Scanlon, Chair of the Civic Committee and President and CEO of UL Solutions.

Public Safety Task Force
Call to Action

We formed the Task Force for the following reasons: 

Crime is a crisis plaguing many American cities, including the city we love – Chicago.

The crime issue is among the biggest challenges facing our City today and could threaten our long-term vitality if we do not address it together.

Crime and gun violence affect everyone in Chicago, including our communities, employees, and our companies, and damage our reputation around the world.

In meetings and discussions with Civic Committee members over the last two years, it is clear that public safety is a top concern and priority for our members. 
 
 
A Safe City: 
  • Reduces trauma and related physical and mental health issues;
  • Improves educational outcomes;
  • Spurs the attraction, creation and retention of jobs and businesses;
  • Supports tourism; and
  • Makes those who live here want to stay. 
 

Be a part of the solution by providing:

1. Jobs

The Civic Committee is committed and looks to the broader Chicago business community to partner with workforce development Community Violence Intervention (CVI) and organizations to create high-quality job opportunities for residents on the South and West Sides, including graduates of comprehensive CVI programs.

CVI organizations project that in five years they will have 1,000-2,000 graduates annually in need of employment opportunities.

Contact Civic Committee SVP Robert Boik (rboik@civiccom.org) and Director Robert Owens (rowens@civiccom.org) to join the Civic Committee’s Hiring Initiative. We will work with you to identify pathways to intentional, local hiring at your organization that will meet your business needs while helping to bring economic vitality and greater safety to Chicago’s South and West Sides.

2. Dollars

The Public Safety Task Force reached a major fundraising milestone in July 2024, just over one year after the initial public announcement of the Task Force. The Civic Committee, together with the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities and other philanthropic and private sector partners, reached $100MM raised to scale up Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs in six Community Areas over the next five years. Compounding the impact of this remarkable investment, the private sector’s $100MM fundraise has been matched by $100MM committed from the public sector: City, County, and State agencies working together as the Government Alliance for Safe Communities..

But our fundraising work is far from complete. The fundraising target to support the remainder of the PSTF’s work is another $100MM: $25MM to support the Hiring Initiative and $75MM for policing and public safety infrastructure projects.

Contact Civic Committee SVP Robert Boik (rboik@civiccom.org) and Director Robert Owens (rowens@civiccom.org) to express an interest in joining the fundraising effort for the next phase of Public Safety Task Force work.

3. People

The Chicago Police Department and CVI organizations have expressed their desire for increased organizational support to accomplish their respective missions.

A number of the skills they desire are strengths of the business community.

To achieve this scale will require $100 million over the next five years.

Contact Civic Committee SVP Robert Boik (rboik@civiccom.org) and Director Robert Owens (rowens@civiccom.org) to explore how you can lend your organization’s talent to the efforts of the Public Safety Task Force.

To get involved, use the contact form below.

Civic Committee Public Safety Task Force

In October of 2022, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago appointed a Task Force to better understand what Chicago is currently doing to address crime and to identify ways for the business community to play a more active role.forceThe current Task Force framework has four strategic pillars:

  1. Help take community violence intervention (CVI) programs to scale, with a top line goal of serving 75% of the population identified as highest-risk.
  2. Support local hiring on the South and West Sides, with a top line goal of seeing 20,000 new South and West Side hires over 5 years among participating companies.
  3. Invest in foundational reform needs at the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, in order to catalyze major gains in policing effectiveness and public trust.
  4. Coordinate direct investment from the business community in key commercial corridors in underinvested communities.

In doing so, the Civic Committee embraced an ambitious set of goals that would put Chicago on track to be the safest big city in America:  

Five-Year Goals – Beginning in 2024

Bring the annual number of shootings below 2,000.

Bring the annual number of homicides below 400, from the recent high of 804 in 2021.

Ten-Year Goals – Beginning in 2024

Bring the annual number of homicides below 200.

Bring the number of shootings below 1,000.

In September of 2023, the Civic Committee named Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and Eric Smith, Vice Chairman of BMO Bank, as the new co-chairs of the Public Safety Task Force.  The two Chicago business leaders are replacing the late James Crown, who led the task force until his tragic death in June.

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  • There are many people and organizations working to improve public safety in our City and have been doing so for a long time.
  • We know that this complex topic requires bringing people together to solve it, and we identified specific ways that business can partner with others in the City to reduce violence in the short and long term.
  • We come to this task because of our deep and personal connections to our City and all who live here. Our businesses have invested here because we believe in Chicago’s fundamentals – its strong and vibrant culture, its proud history, and its hard-working people, in every neighborhood and from all walks of life.
  • We recognize that improving public safety requires a “one-table” strategy where business, community, philanthropy, and government are working together on a comprehensive shared plan in a sustained effort over time.
  • This initiative will take time and there will be challenges along the way, but we are committed to playing our part for the long term.
  • We believe that Chicago can be a national leader in stemming violent crime and improving public safety, drawing on our long history of civic engagement and partnership among the public, non-profit, and private sectors.