On Monday the City of Chicago’s Office of Public Safety (MOPS), and the Community Safety Coordination Center (CSCC) released the One Year Assessment of the City of Chicago’s ‘Our City, Our Safety’ Comprehensive Violence Reduction plan (OCOS). After its release in September 2020, the City committed to providing regular reports on the progress of the public safety strategies and initiatives to sustainably reduce violence over the next three years, as outlined in the OCOS report. This One Year Assessment examines the state of violence in Chicago in the year-and-a-half timeframe since the OCOS report was first published by providing an assessment of public safety-related measures, which are indicative of the strategic initiatives embedded within the five OCOS pillars.  

Through OCOS’s comprehensive framework, the City has worked to address violence as a preventable public health crisis, which can be treated through deliberate, coordinated, and sustained efforts, acknowledging that we must focus on individuals, communities, and systems collectively to reduce violence. This public health approach represents a significant shift from a traditional criminal suppression model for addressing violence toward a more holistic prevention-based approach.  Building upon the five pillars outlined in OCOS, the CSCC was established in August 2021 to coordinate a comprehensive approach to addressing the root causes of community violence by implementing near- and long-term strategies to rebuild the physical environment, create a thriving economy, and support residents in addressing their individual and family needs.