Thank you for that question. I think it's a really important and difficult question. As you were asking it, I could feel my heart get heavy, because it's not always possible to keep them safe. The discussions and conversations that we have, the offenders and I, are very much around their safety and around public safety.
In the 12 years or better that I've been working with this population, a number of people haven't made it. For various reasons, they have ended up being killed. But we work really, really hard to keep them as safe as we possibly can, both in the institutions and in the community, but it's not always 100% possible.
In terms of success rates, it's very difficult for me to say what those rates are. I don't keep statistics on it. Success is also very different. My measure of success is that the public has been kept safe and the person is still safe. There have been many times where I've said to offenders that I know they hate Corrections, but I tell them I have news for them: Corrections doesn't like them either.
I tell them to just finish their sentences, and if for some reason they go unlawfully at large or breach a condition, or use alcohol or drugs, I tell them not to run. I tell them that it's the dumbest thing they can do. “Turn yourself in”, I tell them, “turn yourself in”. That's the message they consistently get from me.
There have been six or seven individuals, hard-core gang members, who are shocked when they have actually turned themselves in. They'll say, “This is so not me--I never do this”. Again, that is part of the success ratio. They haven't killed anyone, they haven't hurt anyone, and they're still working at their recovery and their healing journey.