The Union College Academy of Lifelong Learning (UCALL) is sponsoring a special discussion on ways to reduce community violence at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the First United Methodist Church in Schenectady.
The featured speaker is Devone Boggan, the neighborhood safety director for the city of Richmond, Calif.
Boggan’s talk, “How to Reduce Community Violence by Employing Street-Savvy Change Agents,” is free and open to the public. The church is located at 603 State Street.
Considered one of the most dangerous cities in the country, Richmond employed a controversial program to reduce crime by essentially paying criminals to behave. If criminals kept their commitment to the city for six months — attending meetings, staying out of trouble, being responsive to mentoring — they became eligible to earn up to $1,000 a month for a maximum of nine months.
To read an op-ed Boggan authored in the New York Times earlier this year, click here.
Boggan’s talk is an extension of the Criminal Justice course being offered through UCALL this fall.
Held primarily in Reamer Campus Center, UCALL courses are taught on a volunteer basis by leaders in the academic, business, civic and arts worlds, including many retired and current Union professors.
UCALL was created in 1988 by Arnold Gussin, dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies, at the suggestion of Charles Van Wormer ’36. The initial membership of 15 has since grown to more than 500.
To register for Boggan’s talk, email ucall@union.edu or call (518) 388-6072.