San Francisco will pay people to not shoot others: ‘Cash for criminals’

San Francisco is rolling out a pilot program that will pay high-risk individuals to not shoot anyone as gun crimes tick up in the city.

“These small investments can transform the lives of individuals, but they can also transform communities,” Sheryl Davis, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, told Newsweek.

The Dream Keeper Fellowship will pay 10 individuals who are at high risk of being on either end of a shooting $300 each month to not be involved in such crimes.

The fellowship is being rolled out by the Human Rights Commission and Office of Economic and Workforce Development and is funded through the Dream Keeper Initiative, which is San Francisco’s program that works to redirect funding into the Black community. It will launch in October.

“It’s not necessarily as cut and dry as folks may think. It’s not as transactional as, ‘Here’s a few dollars so that you don’t do something bad,’ but it really is about how you help us improve public safety in the neighborhood,” Davis added.

Participants of the program will be paired with life coaches from the city’s Street Violence Intervention Program and will serve as “community ambassadors.” Participants are also eligible to receive an additional $200 per month through ways such as, working, going to school or being a mediator in potentially violent situations.

Payments are made in the form of gift cards and will be monitored, the San Francisco Examiner reported. – READ MORE