Syracuse Common Councilors have approved an innovative initiative in an effort to reduce gun violence. Lawmakers made some changes to the Safer Streets program to make it more palatable.
The initial plan for a $100 stipend paid to gang members to stay out of trouble, was a non-starter for lawmakers. So they made some changes in the initiative that uses job training and mental health services to curb violent dynamics on the streets of Syracuse. Instead of a stipend, Councilor Chol Majok said 50 individuals, identified by the authorities, will be offered paid internships in an attempt to help them make better decisions about their lives.
"The point of this is to empower this individual and give them a tool to alter the life that they have been living," Majok said.
Majok said he hopes the internships give the individuals the tools to get out of gang life, get a job, and make amends.
“Give back to the community that they have hurt for so long,” Majok said. “Would that be pruning trees? Would that be sharing their stories with other groups? Would that be going out into the community and mentoring out there, using and saying, ‘these pathways, it's not a right pathway?’”
The city will spend $1 million on contracts with various agencies, to provide job training and cognitive behavioral therapy, using credible messengers to convince individuals to sign on. The council vote was 8-1. Democrat Pat Hogan, the lone 'no' vote, said the money would be better spent on law enforcement.
"I never was on board on this thing," Hogan said. "I really believe that we should spend the money on the enforcement part. And that's what my constituents say all the time. Every neighborhood meeting. We need more police protection. We need more police in the neighborhoods."
Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said work will start soon to get this going, with results expected by next summer.
"Here we are towards the end of the summer and it gives us an opportunity to really help her down over the course of the fall and winter and into the spring months to really work with these individuals on an ongoing basis and help them turn their lives around," Owens said.
