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As Baltimore, already in the national spotlight over the police killing of Freddie Gray, endured its deadliest month in almost 40 years, the search for solutions to the problem of persistent, violent crime turned again to a California city that was onceamong America’s most dangerous.
The Atlantic’s CityLab and The Washington Post this week reported on the city of Richmond’s unusual approach to crime reduction.
The initiative, part of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Safety, identifies young male residents, aged 13 to 25, who are most at risk of killing or being killed. The San Francisco Bay Area city then pays them a monthly stipend, ranging from $300 to $1,000, over the course of 18 months in exchange for sticking with an individualized “life map” of positive behavior — such as GED programs, anger management therapy and job training. The better they do, the more they are paid.
Participants are also connected with community mentors, who are credible in part because many have their own violent pasts. The mentors keep in close contact with the young men throughout the program. But importantly, as Mother Jones noted in a 2014 story, the mentors do not share information about participants with law enforcement. Though the program has the police department’s blessing, it operates independently.
While partially funded by the city of 100,000-plus residents, the program is also not wholly dependent on the taxpayers. Private donors have stepped in to help pay for those financial incentives.
