Chicago's own Alex Kotlowitz had a great read in The New York Times Magazine this past weekend on CeaseFire, the multi-pronged, Chicago-based, violence protection organization.

Founded by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, CeaseFire bucks traditional approaches to urban gang violence, conceptualizing it as a deadly infection and implementing programs that mimic effective solutions to those medical emergencies: "[G]o after the most infected, and stop the infection at its source." The makeup of his staff is perhaps Slutkin's most interesting innovation:

So in 2004, Hardiman suggested that, in addition to outreach workers, they also hire men and women who had been deep into street life, and he began recruiting people even while they were still in prison. Hardiman told me he was looking for those “right there on the edge.” (The interrupters are paid roughly $15 an hour, and those working full time receive benefits from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where CeaseFire is housed.) The new recruits, with strong connections to the toughest communities, would focus solely on sniffing out clashes that had the potential to escalate. They would intervene in potential acts of retribution — as well as try to defuse seemingly minor spats that might erupt into something bigger, like disputes over women or insulting remarks.

As Kotlowtiz writes, a newly released government report demonstrates CeaseFire's effectiveness. In six of the seven neighborhoods analyzed by independent researchers working for the Justice Department, the group’s efforts reduced the number of shootings or attempted shootings by 16 percent to 27 percent.

This will likely spark renewed criticism of Gov. Blagojevich's decision in September of last year to cut all of CeaseFire’s $6.2 million in state funding. The cuts were spurred by an audit of the organization that criticized the handling of the organization's finances. Slutkin countered that, due to its early success, CeaseFire had ramped up too quickly and had not been prepared to manage such an expansion.

As a result of the cuts, the organization was forced to reduce the number of "interrupters" it employs from 45 to 17. No doubt, those extra 28 employees would have been helpful last month as gang violence ravaged the city.

Members of the Illinois House voted overwhelmingly in January to double funding for CeaseFire but the bill remains stalled in the Senate. Meanwhile, Blagojevich is scheduled to unveil a $150 million anti-violence initiative today, but initial reports make no mention of any additional Ceasefire funding.