To Stop Crime, Hand Over Cash

This piece by DeVone L. Boggan, founding director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) in Richmond, California, describes the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, a crime reduction initiative that provides mentorship and resources to young men in Richmond identified as being especially at risk of involvement with gun violence, either as a shooter or a victim.

This piece by DeVone L. Boggan, founding director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) in Richmond, California, describes the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, a crime reduction initiative that provides mentorship and resources to young men in Richmond identified as being especially at risk of involvement with gun violence, either as a shooter or a victim. The program focuses on changing the violent behaviors—and the lives—of these young men through intensive mentoring and daily companionship, as well as cash incentives for staying out of trouble. In 2010, the first year of the program, homicides in Richmond fell to 22 (from 45 the previous year). Over the next few years, the average number of homicides remained at less than half of what it had been prior to the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, around 20 per year in 2014. NCCD’s process evaluation of the ONS will be published in the coming weeks. Read the full article here.