CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — After the largest number of shootings and deaths that Chicago has seen in decades, violence mediators are asking the city to put them to work.
Tio Hardiman can’t think of a time when there were 27 murders in a single weekend in Chicago, like what happened last month.
“We had close to 80 murders in the month of May – totally unacceptable. So while everyone is focusing on George Floyd, people are being killed in record numbers here in Chicago, so all I am saying is that you can continue to give money to the other groups, that’s okay, but what about bringing in some new people to the table,” he said.
Hardiman, President of Violence Interrupters Incorporated, is asking for a meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown to discuss his group bringing restorative justice techniques to neighborhoods that see a lot of shootings.
Those include peace circles and victim reconciliation meetings.
State Representative La Shawn Ford agreed – now’s the time to try something new.
“The police’s job is to go out, arrest, and lock up. That has not worked,” Ford said.
Gang conflict mediators have worked with the city before and Hardiman said they brought results, lowering the homicide rate in Woodlawn by 80 percent in 2012.
WBBM Newsradio has reached out to the Mayor’s office and the Chicago Police Department for comment.
By: Nancy Harty – Source