This Once Dangerous California City Gives Young Men Money, All-Expense-Paid Trips in Exchange for Not Shooting Their Rivals

[Janelle2002 3,865]

This Once Dangerous California City Gives Young Men Money, All-Expense-Paid Trips in Exchange for Not Shooting Their Rivals

ABC News

BYRON PITTS and MEAGAN REDMAN 17 hours ago

Dawaun Rice is just 19 years old, but hes already lost seven friends to gun violence, he said. Two of them were brothers who were shot on the same day.

Grappling with an urge to avenge his friends violent murders, Rice pulled out his phone and considered whether to set a plan in motion for retaliation.

I have to sit back, and Ive gotta think, whether to go left or whether to go right, he said.

After a few moments, he puts away his phone without making a move.

This potent mix of pain, anger and teenagers with guns once made Rices hometown of Richmond, California -- across the Bay from San Francisco -- one of the deadliest cities in the country. Here, the streets are hunting grounds where young men run for their lives as they try to escape the bullets.

In 2007, the city brought in DeVone Boggan, a youth development policy professional with an expertise in chronic violent offenders and the founder of the Office of Neighborhood Safety, who came up with a controversial solution: Pay young men like Rice not to pull the trigger. The better the behavior, the better the paycheck.

This month, Rice got the maximum -- $1,300.

Rice is just one of two-dozen men in an 18-month-long fellowship thats run out of Boggans Office of Neighborhood Safety or ONS, mostly funded by taxpayers.

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Boggan said the program is not about paying people to not kill somebody, but instead about paying them so they can get their lives together, and he said preventing violence ultimately costs society less, reducing city expenses for law enforcement, hospital bills and incarceration.

Rice has been holding down a job, which is progress for a young man who was first arrested at age 12 for armed robbery. He said he was homeless and stole an iPhone to help his single mother pay her bills. Boggan said Rice was well-known on the streets.

To help these kids navigate life-or-death choices, Boggan enlisted men to work the frontlines every day.

Most of our guys have come out of either state or federal prison, Boggan said.

Their checkered backgrounds is one of the things that makes them particularly suited to the most crucial part of their job: interrupting violence.

Rice had been doing so well, he qualified for the next huge reward in the program, which was an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., and New York City, but theres a catch.

You have to be willing to travel with someone thats trying to kill you or that youre suspected of trying to kill, Boggan said.

Rice was paired with Marrico Williams from a rival neighborhood. So far, 18-year-old Williams has not been shot, but his mother fears it could be a matter of time before she will have to bury her son.

Before the trip, both Rice and Williams were each joined by another fellow in the program from their own neighborhood for a pre-trip meeting. The ONS agents stayed close just in case, and tension was high over a recent Facebook post in which Rice said Williams crew made fun of one of Rices friends who was killed recently. Social media posts have been a flashpoint for violence in the community before.

After they confronted each other about it, Williams and his friend agreed that the post should be deleted, and then later it was. The fact that these young men were able to navigate the conflict with words instead of violence was a huge step for them.

Without this program, wouldve never met. We wouldve never had an encounter like that. It wouldve been negativity, Rice said. Its a rivalry but its always good to have respect everywhere.

Between 2009 and 2014, the number of homicides have dropped 76 percent across Richmond, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting program. Its a number that cant be attributed to ONS alone. ONS said its proof their approach is working: The vast majority of fellows, 94 percent, are still alive, according to National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

We want to expose them to a world where they go from, I dont give a ...' to a place where, 'Maybe I do, Boggan said.

Back in Richmond, when a young man phoned James Houston, one of Boggans staff, and told him he thought he was being hunted and that there was a car full of suspected rivals parked in front of his house, Houston and another ONS agent, Sam Vaughn, went over there to talk to him, putting their own lives at risk, to stop a potential shooting. They stayed with him until the young man calmed down, Houston said.

It is a cry for help. It just isnt the typical one, Houston said. Because they dont want to do something, but they feel like they have to. ... The major things we intervene in, nobody knows about.

The Change Agents say many of the fellows in the program still carry guns for protection.

Right now, were just trying to teach them not to deal with their conflict with violence, Vaughn said.

So many armed men on the streets is not something the Richmond police are comfortable with.

ONS is "kind of on their own track and were on ours, said Richmond Police Officer Ben Therriault. I dont know what theyre doing on the street level.

Its still a place where a routine traffic stop turned into an armed standoff, but in the end no shots were fired. Police seized two guns from the four men inside the car they stopped.

The thing that is unfortunate about it is ... he may bail out before I even get off work. You know? And theres two firearms recovered in the vehicle, said Officer Terry Thomas.

ONS's approach is garnering national attention, and other cities struggling with gun violence, including Baltimore, D.C., and Oakland, are now asking Boggan for his help.

I see these young men as sons. And a part of their growth and development requires a little coddling, coaching ... discipline, thats what they get here, Boggan said. "It's not that hard. ... These young men shoot because when they shoot they matter. Its when we pay attention to them.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/once-dangerous-california-city-gives-young-men-money-224504668--abc-news-topstories.html

[Jacque67 7,328]

Interesting story.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Interesting story.

It is indeed. I wonder why all the people who want to talk about Chicago aren't talking about this article. lol

[Jacque67 7,328]

It is indeed. I wonder why all the people who want to talk about Chicago aren't talking about this article. lol

A couple of posters here could do with all-expense paid trips...get the attention they need -lol.

[Sousuke 1,214]

A couple of posters here could do with all-expense paid trips...get the attention they need -lol.

I actually live in the OP's city.

Can't say I've ever felt unsafe. We did have a break in 3 years ago where an old laptop was stolen and some jewelry. Didn't have an alarm then.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I actually live in the OP's city.

Can't say I've ever felt unsafe. We did have a break in 3 years ago where an old laptop was stolen and some jewelry. Didn't have an alarm then.

That's because when everyone is doing good city's can enjoy low crime and happiness. We are too big on classism to understand this concept.

[Sousuke 1,214]

That's because when everyone is doing good city's can enjoy low crime and happiness. We are too big on classism to understand this concept.

There is a darker element in play though. Bay Area housing costs are through the roof, so that means gentrification.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

There is a darker element in play though. Bay Area housing costs are through the roof, so that means gentrification.

That's just sad. When prices go through the roof it's just to keep certain people out. But even if you make a low salary you shouldn't have to be subjected to a poor environment. One thing about Fairfax, VA, income based housing still looks darn good