Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up efforts to address violent crime in major cities, including Chicago, by sending or threatening to send national guard troops and increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. However, experts working on the ground in violence prevention argue that these measures will only deepen the problem, not resolve its root causes.
What Happened?
In recent months, the Trump administration has used rising crime rates as justification for escalating law enforcement measures. Following earlier interventions in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., the national guard was deployed to Chicago last week as part of an ongoing effort to curb gun violence. The administration’s focus on crime control has raised concerns, with critics arguing that the approach ignores the systemic issues contributing to the violence.
Teny Gross, the executive director of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, stated that the president’s focus on increasing law enforcement is misguided. According to Gross, the long-standing violence in Chicago and similar cities is the result of decades of neglected policies, not simply a lack of police presence. “If you want to go after violence, go to the cities and invest in them, not just send in the national guard,” Gross said, emphasizing that law enforcement actions without community investment will fail to make meaningful progress.
Who is Affected?
Chicago has seen its fair share of violence, with 574 homicides last year alone. While the city’s homicide rate of 17 per 100,000 people is lower than that of several cities in red states, like Birmingham, Alabama, and Shreveport, Louisiana, it still attracts national attention, particularly under the current political climate. However, community leaders and activists are increasingly frustrated with the Trump administration’s law-and-order strategy.
Ethan Ucker, executive director of Stick Talk, a Chicago-based non-profit focused on youth gun-carrying prevention through harm reduction, expressed concern over the increasing criminalization of Chicago’s neighborhoods. “Those narratives are strategically being deployed to justify state violence,” Ucker said, warning that criminalizing communities will not address the underlying issues.
Career-Long Advocacy for Community-Based Solutions
Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, who leads the coalition Live Free Illinois, believes the national conversation on crime needs to focus on better support for crime victims and more resources for communities. She argues that President Trump should prioritize funding for community-based organizations and improve clearance rates for solving crimes. “To completely disregard those requests is immoral and not about protecting citizens,” Bates-Chamberlain said.
Bates-Chamberlain, a Chicago native who has worked in the violence prevention space for over a decade, acknowledges the city’s homicide rate has dropped by over 30% in 2025 but stresses that communities are still feeling the lasting effects of violence. “The numbers are down, yet communities are still feeling the impact,” she explained. Despite these improvements, many residents still live in fear, and Bates-Chamberlain believes increased law enforcement will not fix the deeper systemic issues that have contributed to the city’s violence.
Public Reaction
The public’s response to Trump’s use of increased policing as a solution has been one of deep concern. As leaders in violence prevention continue to advocate for community investments, many argue that sending in more officers and military forces is not the answer. “He’s politicizing our pain, and that is diabolical and despicable for the president of the United States to do,” Bates-Chamberlain said, criticizing the president for using the violence as a political tool rather than addressing it through constructive means.
Community activists and residents have called for a shift in focus away from police-heavy solutions to ones that invest in the city’s infrastructure, education, and social support systems. The call for accountability and systemic change is growing louder as more people voice their frustrations with an approach that continues to overlook community needs in favor of an increased law enforcement presence.
Closing
As debates continue about the effectiveness of law enforcement-heavy approaches to combat crime, activists argue that true change lies in addressing the underlying societal issues. Only time will tell whether the current strategy will succeed in reducing violence or if a more holistic, community-driven approach will be adopted in the future. This story may be updated with more information as it becomes available.
