I believe in second chances. Heck, I believe in 3rd, 4th, 5th, and to the Nth chances. However this new development in the City of Chicago's hiring procedure did give me pause for reflection. At the urging and lobbying by the Safer Foundation www.saferfoundation.org the City of Chicago has dropped the CHECK THIS BOX IF YOU HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIME from their job application.
While in college at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois I attended several benefits for the Safer Foundation.
I have applauded the work of the Safer Foundation for their work in removing the question "Have you ever been arrested" from job applications. Too many young black males have been arrested for "driving while black" and many of them were my co-workers! Co-workers who were highly-educated black males. So I'm not a stickler for telling everything about yourself, unecessarily, to a potential employer.
Reuter's on Safer Award to Mayor Daley:
http://www.reuters.com/...
Safer Foundaton home page:
http://www.saferfoundation.org/...
That being said, I don't believe in putting someone with an obvious weakness into a position where they can or are even destined to fail. Someone convicted of embezzlement should not seek to work in an area where they have access to the company's money. A paedophile should not work around children, either as a teacher or anywhere they could have prolonged and unsupervised contact with children. I would not give someone with DUI's a job as a professional driver or a professional bartender, liquor salesman, vintner.
I would be all for giving an ex-con a second chance, but for my recent experiences with a group of ex-cons.
I am disabled and in a motorized wheelchair. While I am working on my relearning how to walk with gait training, strength training, balance and endurance; for the near future I remain dependent on using wheelchairs, walkers & canes. I have a whole array of these. I currently own one old and one new motorized wheelchairs. I have three different walkers; one standard issue, one with rollers, one with rollers and a seat that I can rest my tired tuchus on. Three canes; one standard, one folding cane, one with 4 feet if I'm feeling unbalanced.
I depend on other people for alot of my care.
One of the five transsportation companies I use (I need different companies depending on where I am traveling to) hires ex-cons. I chanced upon this information when one of my regular drivers became overly interested in me and tried to extort money from me. Don "the Con" began by being overly solicitous and I started feeling like I was being stalked. The first time he was my driver he said that since the election of President Obama, he -- Don -- has been discriminated against by white people who hated black people. Don also told me that white people were responsible for the death of his brothers, el Ruhkn/PStone gangbangers. It's possible that white people of a certain age might be threatened by an intelligent and agressive black male, but I felt pretty confident that I could could get along with Don.
He wasn't interested in a professional relationship, he was interested in stealing from me. He took little liberties that had the appearance of his trying to help me, but in fact he was "casing the joint". His eyes were like an adding machine, cha-ching, cha-ching.
He made several attempts to overcharge me for transportation. He tried to cheat me when he made change. Finally he tried to get me to pay $265 for a trip in his vehicle! What was even more disturbing was that the dispatcher, a young female, agreed that I should pay more and even got her boss on the phone to tell me that tomorrow's pick-up would be for $265!
I was enraged and complained, complained, complained, but I had to find other transportation. While Don "the Con" continued perpetrating his fraud. It took over a month of angry phone calls, e-mails and letters, for me to get my service resumed and Don "the Con" sent to another part of the transport routes. I had asked that Don "the Con" to be fired. I had a dossier on him and his activities and the complaints others had made against Don "the Con". Everything falls between the cracks. And the owner of the company has promoted Don "the Con" to being a "trainer". Don "the Con" continues to bring in more of "his" people, ex-cons. Once I overheard Don "the Con" on the cell phone, while he was driving too fast on a cold and rainy day, to one of his peeps who had been called in to be disciplied. Don "the Con" said: "Just act crazy, just act crazy, they won't fire you. They're scared of us."
The owner of the company continued and to this day continues to defend Don "the Con". Why? According to other drivers, the company frequently overcharges clients. Many of my drivers are disgusted by this fraud being perpetrated on the sick, disabled and the elderly, but they are pragmatic about what they are willing to do. Most drivers are not drivers by choice, their career options have been dashed and driving paratransit is (in their words) bottom-of-the-barrel, last-chance work. Many of my drivers refuse to handle money. Yes. Many of my drivers have adopted the policy of having the office handle the money issues.
While this transportation company has decided to hire ex-cons who have reverted to their old behaviors because IT PAYS WELL and the company makes more money, those straight and narrow drivers are becoming increasingly disenchanted.
What's the point of being honest and decent when the company you work for considers the "A-team" to be the cons and crooks who bring more money into the company.
In being kind to the cruel, what have we done to the innocent? In being kind to the perpetrators, where does that leave the victims? I have yet to see anything more than a nod of the head to the victims of crime.