SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration will be sending a newly created team of street outreach workers to Chicago neighborhoods during the Memorial Day weekend to help with the city’s violence prevention efforts.
The workers are with the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Citywide Crisis Prevention & Response Unit, whose goal is to address street conflicts through mediation and de-escalation.
According to the governor’s office, the unit will send out over 30 workers — whom the state is calling “peacekeepers” — to various neighborhoods. The unit will work with community groups and various city and state agencies on the violence prevention efforts.
