by Detrick Mott
People who truly know me understand that I’m an avid reader, deeply focused on Black American literature and history. Combined with over two decades of policing experience, that background has given me a grounded, real-world perspective. I’ve studied these types of groups and movements for years, and what I’m seeing now isn’t new; it’s a recycled idea being repackaged and sold as innovation.
There’s a growing narrative in cities
like Chicago that violent crime is somehow “curable” through Community Violence
Intervention (CVI). On the surface, it sounds good. It feels compassionate. It
checks the right political boxes. But we need to be honest, this approach has
been tried before, and history has already shown us where it leads.
CVI reframes violent crime as a public
health issue, suggesting that with enough outreach, therapy, and mentorship,
even the most dangerous offenders can be redirected. But violent crime is not
the flu. It’s not a condition you treat with counseling sessions and job
programs. It stems from deliberate decisions and choices individuals make to harm
others. And those choices require consequences, not just conversations.
We’ve seen similar models before.
In Philadelphia, the Black Mafia family operated under the cover of community
influence while running organized criminal enterprises. In 1960s Chicago,
factions of the Vice Lords leveraged government-funded community programs to
expand their power and criminal reach. In Los Angeles, figures like Stanley
“Tookie” Williams built violent networks while recruiting youth, often under
the radar of so-called community engagement efforts.
Fast forward to today, and the pattern
hasn’t changed. Individuals once promoted as community leaders, like Eugene “Big U” Henley Jr., have faced federal scrutiny, including RICO related allegations tied to organized crime. The formula remains the same: access public funds,
build influence, and operate in the gray area between activism and criminal
enterprise.
Now CVI is being marketed as something
new. It isn’t. It’s the same strategy repackaged, placing former or even active
criminals in positions of authority, giving them taxpayer money, and hoping
they regulate themselves. That’s not intervention. That’s outsourcing public
safety to individuals who, in many cases, help create the very problem.
Supporters argue that “credible
messengers” can reach people that law enforcement cannot. But here’s the real
question: who holds them accountable? Police officers operate under laws,
policies, body cameras, internal investigations, prosecutorial review, and the
courts. CVI groups often operate with far less oversight, shielded by politics
and public relations.
Recent events continue to expose cracks. Public officials have aligned themselves with individuals labeled as “peacekeepers” in the City of Chicago, who met with the Governor, only for some of those same individuals to later face arrest or be linked to criminal activity. That’s not an anomaly; it’s a predictable
outcome when the line between enforcement and participation is blurred.
The reality is straightforward: a small
percentage of repeat offenders drive the majority of violent crime. The idea
that you can “treat” that behavior away without firm enforcement isn’t just
flawed, it’s dangerous. It delays meaningful action while communities continue
to suffer.
Law enforcement isn’t perfect, but it
remains the only system built with structure, authority, and accountability to
address violent crime. Police don’t negotiate with violence; they intervene,
investigate, arrest, and remove threats from the community. That’s what creates
real safety.
In many cases, CVI programs risk
creating a parallel system where offenders are empowered instead of confronted.
And when you empower the wrong individuals with money and influence, you don’t
reduce crime, you reorganize it.
At the end of the day, justice cannot be
outsourced. Violent behavior cannot be therapized away. And individuals with a
history of exploiting systems don’t automatically become protectors of the
public simply because funding is attached.
Crime is not curable; it is
controllable. And it is controlled through enforcement, accountability, and
consequences.
Anything else
is just expensive denial.
Peacekeeper photographed with Governor Pritzker charged in… (n.d.). YouTube. https://youtu.be/xHgFlE3-iAE
Eazyplay. (n.d.). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Ea-_pZYclMA
Unknown author. (n.d.). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2uvY-_qWCkc
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