Ronald Holt, a CPD veteran, was named to the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program (CAPS) post by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Holt's son, Blair, was fatally shot while riding a CTA bus in 2007. An alleged gang member was sentenced to 100 years in prison for opening fire on the crowded bus, killing Blair, a 16-year-old honor student at Julian High School.
"I believe there is no more important time than now for the CAPS program to grow and expand," said Mayor Daley.
Holt, 49, said he will work as CAPS director to spare other families from the grief he has experienced on both sides of the gun.
"You have a young person who may be killed and you have a young person who may end up incarcerated if caught and convicted," said Holt.
One of the first of its kind in the nation, the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategies program, chicagopolice.org attempts to forge a stronger relationship and improved communication between neighborhoods and the police department. With the murder rate and gun violence on the rise in many city neighborhoods, the mayor opted for the outspoken Holt, who has worked with CAPS for the past three years.
"He's appeared before the city council. He's appeared before in Springfield and even in Washington, D.C. dealing with gun prevention," said Mayor Daley.
In the three years since his son's death, Holt has formed his own anti-violence organizations. He and Blair's mother have participated in hundreds of activities in his son's memory.
"I think that I have to continue to work on his behalf and the dreams that he had and to instill those dreams and those hopes into other children," said Ron Holt.
