It is according to Dr Gary Slutkin, a former infectious disease expert and founder of CeaseFire, a violence reduction program featured in the documentary The Interrupters:
Slutkin sees Chicago’s recent uptick in violence as symptomatic of how much the city has come to rely on his program. Indeed, a similar phenomenon occurred in 2008, when a temporary pause in CeaseFire’s efforts was accompanied by a spike in violence. He notes that infectious diseases like tuberculosis and measles similarly return when public health efforts to control them are abandoned. "This is a wave on top of a wave [of violence] that began last fall when Ceasefire temporarily dropped off from ninety-nine to fifty-three outreach workers," he says, noting, "CeaseFire has added outreach workers in response." He also points to the fact that CeaseFire workers only cover a third of the city—and in those areas there have not been spikes in violence.
More on the metaphor here.
The Dish 