# 2 in a series about The Program
Picture taken in the parking lot of the Candlestick Park Recreation Area, May 20, 2024, 12:21 PM
I wrote recently about how one on the aspects of The Program is how it will act as a shelter and a safe space for the people who are currently scattered about the city living on the streets.
Another equally important aspect of The Program will be that it will serve the population of people who get in trouble with the law here in the city.
I will stand up right here and say that I wholeheartedly agree with the people who say that when people are arrested and convicted of certain “lower level” crimes the punishment they face is too strong for the circumstances. I agree that often the punishment and its follow-on consequences sets them back irrevocably. Or insufficiently addresses their underlying needs. Or both.
Now I will also stand up and say right here that the solution to this problem is most certainly NOT to reduce or eliminate enforcement of the laws that address these “low level” crimes. I am very much against watering down the enforcement of these laws, and when elected I will work vigorously to unwind much of the watering-down that has gone on over the past few years.
But I want you to know that while I will be ramping up law enforcement in general during my term in office, I will also be working vigorously to ramp up both attention and reforms to the punishment side of the equation.
And that effort will take place in The Program. He is a general overview.
When someone is booked into the city jail, one or more people from The Program will head down to the jail and meet with them. The first question they will ask in the meeting is “Why?”
Why are you here? Why are you in this circumstance? Why did you think this was a good idea? What in your life has lead up to this?
From there the team from The Program will seek to incorporate this person into The Program, which will offer a path to redemption that won’t become part of a criminal record and won’t involve traditional punishments.
How will this work? Well, what I hope to achieve is a communal understanding among all the interested parties to get people who have strayed off the path back onto it, and with a fair and equitable chance of achieving success in society going forward.
To do this I envision The Program working with many parties, including everyone from judges and prosecutors to social workers, teachers, family members, gang experts, peers, etc. The goal from my perspective would be to allow The Program to be offered to someone in lieu of the punishment they would otherwise be in line for.
Once admitted to The Program under these circumstances the person would be subject to some strict requirements, and will be expected to achieve certain milestones in an orderly and timely fashion.
If they succeed in The Program, then we’ll throw a graduation party and have a good time sending this person off into their new, or at least better, life.
However, if they don’t decide to get with The Program, and they don’t achieve their milestones, then it’s back to the tender mercies of the judge and the prosecutor. That doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?
But I don’t anticipate having too many failures. Sure, there will be some. But the way we are going to structure the workings of The Program is so people admitted under these circumstances will find a place that is relatable and sensible and, actually, a good and satisfying thing to be part of.
More to come about The Program.