Desperate times calls for desperate measures. San Francisco officials are paying gang bangers $300-a-month to stop killing each other.
Participants could receive an extra $200-a-month if they meet specific goals such as getting a job or going to their parole appointments on time.
The Dream Keeper Fellowship pilot program will pay 10 people to be “public safety ambassadors” in their gangs.
The new program is an effort to stem the gun violence in the Bay Area by paying gang bangers to put their weapons down.
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Initially the money will be paid out monthly in gift cards to 10 of the worst offenders who are at high risk for killing people.
The program will be funded by taxpayer dollars, along with private donations and a federal grant.
If the program is successful, officials will expand it to include more gang bangers on the city’s payroll.
The announcement comes after the San Francisco Police Department tweeted an image of a woman leaning out of a Cadillac window while wielding an AK-47 last month.
On 7/11/2021, During an illegal exhibition of speed event at Barneveld & McKinnon, a passenger leaned out of a Cadi holding an AK47; see photo. SFPD Traffic Company personnel worked up a case, and seized this particular vehicle today. @SFPD @sfmta_muni @SFPDPerea pic.twitter.com/4disQpzziY
— SFPDTrafficSafety (@SFTrafficSafety) August 5, 2021
Police later seized the Cadillac, but were unable to identify the woman.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, insisted the money is not simply “cash for criminals.”
“These folks do not have any sort of income. And so part of what we’re trying to do is make sure that money is not a barrier to turning your life around,” Breed told KPIX-TV.
She didn’t explain what would happen if one of her “ambassadors” kills someone while on the city payroll.
California will also become the fist state to pay drug addicts if they promise to stop doing drugs.
