Paying criminals to stay out of trouble

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Last week, the shooting death of a pregnant woman in Toronto shocked the community. But Toronto is not the only Canadian city struggling with mounting gun violence. 

As gun-related deaths rise, Canadian communities may look to Richmond, California, for a different kind of approach in handling these crimes — the program is called the Office of Neighbourhood Safety. The ONS offers guidance, job training and employment to ex-convicts, and pays them to turn their lives around. 

It's not gang prevention or gang intervention, it's going right to the individuals that we know to be our most active firearm offenders ... and engaging them in a partnership that begins to change the trajectory of their lives.- Devone Boggan, founder and director of the ONS

Devone Boggan, Office of Neighbourhood Safety founder and director, says the common denominator of ONS members is their upbringing. Typically they have been around not only violence, but a mindset that they are alone in their community, leaving them feeling a responsibility to protect or retaliate — with firearms. 

"They are babies growing up in war zones," Boggan says.

Jooyoung Lee, who specializes in researching gun violence, says he supports the Office of Neighbourhood Safety program due to its non-punitive measures. While critics have said the aspect of payment from the ONS is tantamount to rewarding criminal behaviour, Lee calls such views "cynical." 

Guests in this segment:

• Devone Boggan, founder and director of the Office of Neighbourhood Safety. 
• Jooyoung Lee, sociology professor at the University of Toronto. 

Should we consider paying high-risk offenders if they show they can change?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Josh Bloch and Hamutal Dotan.