Page 224 - The Power to Change Anything

Design Rewards and Demand Accountability 213

mon at this point) to a different room where they see posters
tacked to the walls. Under each poster they find a small table
with a binder on it. During previous weeks police have gath-
ered evidence, including video footage of each of the attendees
making at least one illicit drug sale.
As the drug dealers enter the new room, each is told, “Find
your poster.” When they do, they discover that the poster sports
a high-resolution photo of them doing a drug deal. In the adja-
cent binder, they see all the case evidence the police intend to
use to prosecute them. Next the invitees are asked to take a seat
and watch a video. At this point the local prosecutor states:
“Raise your hand when you see yourself committing a felony.”
One by one, they do. Next, authorities tell the offenders that
they’ve been put on a special list and will be aggressively pros-
ecuted when caught.
Combine this tactic with support from family and friends
as well as job programs, and the results have been terrific. Small
crimes have dropped by 35 percent in certain neighborhoods
in North Carolina, and in the three neighborhoods where the
initiative was implemented, 24 of 40 alleged dealers have
stayed clear of the law. More importantly, community mem-
bers have become far more active at reporting crimes and part-
nering with law enforcement officials.
All this is done without having to haul nearly as many peo-
ple off to jail in order to catch their attention. Poignant, real,
and immediate, threats of punishment help keep potential
hardened criminals on the straight and narrow.
And to enhance the credibility of their efforts, the author-
ities never bluff. They invite drug dealers to the open forum,
and those who don’t come are immediately arrested and pros-
ecuted for the crimes recorded on videotape. Those who go
through the program and don’t stay with their new job train-
ing or do commit a crime are also immediately arrested. Soon
the word gets out that the authorities are serious about what
they say. Then the mere threat of possible negative conse-
quences becomes much more effective.