General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCities begin to challenge a bedrock of justice: They’re paying criminals not to kill
RICHMOND, Calif. The odds were good that Lonnie Holmes, 21, would be the next person to kill or be killed in this working-class suburb north of San Francisco.
Four of his cousins had died in shootings. He was a passenger in a car involved in a drive-by shooting, police said. And he was arrested for carrying a loaded gun.
But when Holmes was released from prison last year, officials in this city offered something unusual to try to keep him alive: money. They began paying Holmes as much as $1,000 a month not to commit another gun crime.
Cities across the country, beginning with the District of Columbia, are moving to copy Richmonds controversial approach because early indications show it has helped reduce homicide rates.
The fine line between genius and insanity...
EmperorHasNoClothes
(4,797 posts)FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)I'd like $1000 / month not to kill anyone too.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)What's not to like?
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)braddy
(3,585 posts)angstlessk
(11,862 posts)$1,000 per month, or life in prison? Talk about a gamble...remember the Alfred Hitchcock show with Steve McQueen?
Link not there, but comments are:
Who Needs This One When I've Got Nine More!
7/10
Author: dougdoepke from Claremont, USA
23 June 2007
This is the second entry featuring McQueen in the series. Both rely on superior scripts, probably an enticement for the then fast rising young actor. Also featured is McQueen's real life wife, Neile Adams, who quickly shows why she was a professional dancer and not a professional actress.
Anyway the two "meet cute" in an anonymous Las Vegas lounge when interrupted by the one-and-only Peter Lorre looking a bit like a human version of Pacman. Naturally, you suspect something weird from such a weird looking guy, and he doesn't disappoint. He proposes a cockamamie wager to McQueen: his convertible car for McQueen's little finger!-- (Thank you writer Roald Dahl for this one.) McQueen's intrigued; it's just strange enough to be interesting. Then too, maybe that will impress the shapely Miss Adams. The trick is for McQueen to light his cigarette lighter ten times without a miss, otherwise his fingers only count up to nine.
Thanks to the inbuilt suspense, we sweat a bucket-load, hanging with Steve as he flicks once, twice, three times, his other hand splayed across a table top with Lorre poised hatchet in hand. Frankly, in my view, the ending doesn't quite match the lead-up in pay-off. Still, the 30 minutes amounts to a fascinating premise with a lot of white-knuckle interest for fans beyond those of early McQueen.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)but if this program saves lives and money, then I like it.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Few of its residents commute to SF or Oakland. Most work at the gigantic Chevron refinery or other industrial establishments in town.
It is also the largest city in the U.S. with a Green mayor. A coalition of Greens and progressive Dems control the city council.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Dirt cheap.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)Remember the "surge"? The part of that that nobody ever talks about is the part where we bribed al Qaeda not to carry out any terrorist attacks.