Originally Posted by Kenswing (Post 1548607)

They should try this in Chicago. With 36 shootings over the Memorial Day weekend alone they should have plenty of candidates. Although this was an improvement over last year..

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1548748)

What makes people always mention Chicago? Are you aware of the national statistics that looks at fatal shootings per capita in the US and Chicago is not even in the top 5. It's 2017 rate is equal to Gracie's hometown of Cincinnati and that rate for Chicago is down double digits so far in 2018. Worst city... St Louis

Mentioning of Chicago and lying about its homicide rate have somehow become a common practice. Not sure why people can't understand the real rate has to be adjusted by population. And it is worth mentioning that NYC has a rate so low that such perceived safe places like Tulsa and Minneapolis and Dallas have murder rates several multiples of the rate in NYC.

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1548869)

Originally Posted by redwitch (Post 1548740)

This is based on a SUCCESSFUL program running in Richmond, CA. It includes counseling, training, mentoring. Richmond killings dropped from 46 to 11 in one year. Richmond has been known as a high-crime/gang city in the Bay Area for a long, long time.

Richmond, California: Paying kids not to kill - CNN

$1,000/month is a lot cheaper than prison. If it helps just one kid to get a new life, the price is cheap.

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1548869)

There have long been programs where individuals from high risk groups have been rewarded with either cash or other incentives to do things that some might simply call behaving. Examples would include paying people to stay in school, to come to health clinic appointments for themselves or their children, to read books. At times the money came from government others from NGOs. The results have been mixed.
Your employer may have given you a bonus because you did your job well, showed up on time always, were available for overtime. That is being paid for behaving. You may have paid your children, or grandchildren for getting good grades.

Money is the carrot, incarceration is the stick. The carrot is much cheaper than the stick. Society is going to pay one way or the other. If the program works, and it seems to have elsewhere, then staying out of trouble may become a pattern for some or many of these at-risk people.

And I suspect most of you didn't read the linked story. The $1000/ month requires ongoing counseling and case management for 18 months and only pays if they "stay the course" And none of this is taxpayer money. An additional proposal from the mayor
$500 a month to a select group of residents. They'll be able to spend it as they wish, for 18 months, in a pilot program to test the impact of what's called guaranteed basic income.


This is exactly what the Alaska Fund does, distributes cash to every citizen of Alaska to do with as they please.

Originally Posted by CFrance (Post 1548881)