Victor Rios

“He then told me, “I’m going to give you a chance. … I’m going to let you go, but I want to see you make an effort to change your life around. Next time I catch you, I will make sure to lock you up.” This last chance, combined with the multiple opportunities offered by my teachers and mentors, motivated me to begin the transformation process.”
― Victor Rios, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys

“There is a way to transform punishment, to generate creative means of social control, which provides viable rehabilitation for delinquent youths and which does not spill over and affect young people who have yet to commit crime. It will take imagination and the courage to adopt successful models that attempt to transform the punitive way in which young people are treated in marginalized communities. There are a few individuals, such as my teacher, Ms. Russ, and Officer Wilson, who have broken away from punitive social control and aim to change the way young people are treated, and they can serve as examples. Maybe then a new generation of former gang members and delinquents will read names from an old refrigerator and celebrate multiple high school graduations and college”
― Victor Rios, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys