CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - On Tuesday night, the Champaign City Council was presented with a $3.2 million proposal to tackle gun violence in the city. 
 
Champaign leaders have been trying to get to the root causes of gun violence for years, but crime statistics show shootings and shooting deaths have actually skyrocketed in the past two years. City staff said they believe while they've been taking action over the past several years, there are too many gaps in the current system to prevent gun violence and support victims.
 
They also are concerned too much of the community programs rely on non-profits who don't always have stable funding.
 
In response, city leaders are proposing creating a new Equity and Engagement Department within the city, tasked with implementing a three-prong approach. The three goals include preventing and reducing gun violence, community engagement and data-driven decision making. 
 
"The guns, the magazines, we've never seen this before in our community," Champaign Community Relations Manager Tracy Parsons explained.

The new blueprint focuses on street outreach, youth development and building police-community relationships. City officials who developed this plan said the proposal is based on best practices from other cities. Their plan also includes evaluations and audits to ensure money isn’t being wasted on programs that don’t work.

If approved. the entire program and new department would cost $3.2 million for the first year, to be paid for with American Rescue Plan funds from the federal government. Council members said during a work session Tuesday night, they are concerned about long term funding for this initiative. But neighbors who talked during the session said something needs to be done now.

"Our community is full of mourning mothers that have buried their kids, they're never coming back," Champaign mom Samantha Carter said.

"My nephew was killed, they never found his murderer here in Champaign. I have friends that were killed, I had a friend that had to lay on top of his wife in the back of my house, while they had 50 or 60 bullets go through their house," resident Linda Turnville added.

Many other speakers shared the same frustration of lives being taken too soon. But Champaign leaders hope this new blueprint will tackle root causes of violence and finally get communities the support they need.