Firing of mayor's community safety deputy raises concerns about Chicago's violence reduction efforts

Chicago's public safety plan is in flux after Mayor Brandon Johnson fired his deputy mayor of community safety, Garien Gatewood.

For nearly three years, Gatewood oversaw City Hall's community safety efforts in Chicago, but the mayor abruptly fired him on Thursday.

Now some community organizations who have worked alongside police to reduce violent crime have said they are concerned about what will happen next.

Chicago saw a significant drop in violent crime over the last few years. Murders dropped nearly 30% in 2025, as the city saw the fewest homicides of any year in the last six decades.

Organizations that have been on the ground are wondering, if the system was working, why change it?

Groups who have worked with the city to bring down violent crime described Gatewood as someone who connected the community to City Hall and the Chicago Police Department. Now they don't know what's next for the city's public safety efforts.

"It's not about anybody's personal or anything like that, it's about saving the lives of the people of the city of Chicago," said Hyson Harper, who works with A.N.C.H.O.R. Chicago, a West Side nonprofit working to stop violent crime.

Harper's work is part of the mayor's "People's Plan for Community Safety," something he was skeptical of at first.

"But then I looked at it, and I saw the plan that Garien had put in play, and it was a plan that was something sustainable; not only for the community, our community, but could be used all over the city of Chicago," Harper said.

Harper said he saw that plan working under Gatewood's leadership. Now he and other groups said they're concerned about the plan's execution going forward.

Gatewood spoke out after his firing, describing a less-than-ideal work environment on the 5th floor of City Hall.

"People who have been awarded and rewarded and recognized for their work one week and let go the next week. There's a problem there that people genuinely need to look into, and you have to be willing to surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable. Otherwise, you end up in situations like this," Gatewood said.

Community leaders said they're less worried about City Hall and more concerned about what will happen on Chicago's streets, especially now that the weather is getting warmer.

"The biggest question is, we're right at the beginning of a serious and critical time. So, as long as we keep the focus on saving lives, that's the big thing," Harper said.

Marquinn McDonald, a member of the 2nd District Council on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, said Gatewood's firing is concerning, "because I have to ask a serious question on where do we go from here? Summer is around the corner."

McDonald has worked on teen trends with Gatewood, trying to meet young people where they are.

"I've seen him, you know, come boots on the ground. There's very few people in regards to city government that I can actually say that I've actually seen come to the trenches and be boots to the ground. So, I've seen Garien do that," McDonald said.

The mayor's office reiterated that they are fully committed to making Chicago safe, but they would not give anyone a reason why Gatewood was let go. 

Gatewood has said he was not given an explanation for his firing, and was only told the Johnson administration is going to "go in a different direction."

"They said they wanted to move forward with different policies as opposed to the on-the-ground work that I do, on-the-ground work with community members, with people in those communities, and also like communities like this, right? From being on the ground in spaces like this where we've seen levels of violence. They said that wasn't the route that they wanted to go. They wanted to go in a different direction. That was the only explanation I got," Gatewood said.

CBS News Chicago wanted to ask the mayor about Gatewood's interim replacement on Friday, but his office claimed his only scheduled appearance was cancelled by its organizers.