A few weeks ago Scott Mills of the Toronto Police Service referred me to a man named Rick Osborne, a "reformed gang member" Scott suggested I ought to meet.
Not really knowing what to expect, I sent Rick an e-mail and a few days later we spoke on the phone and then met at a Newmarket coffee shop. To say I was blown away by Rick’s story is an understatement. Back in the 1970’s in Niagara Falls Rick got mixed up with the wrong crowd and one night, was injected with a "speedball" - a mixture of heroin and methamphetamine – by two men wanting to see a "virgin" react to his first high. For Rick, this unfortunate event began a two decade-plus downward spiral into the world of drug addiction, street and traditional organized crime gangs, violence and prison. For his many criminal transgressions, Rick spent twenty-three and a half years of his life in prison, shunted from coast to coast and placed in more than 30 different institutions.
For drug-addicted and gang-involved men, life expectancies are usually very short. But Rick somehow found a way while in prison to get clean, earn a degree from Queens University (which he, and not Canadian taxpayers, financed through the sale of his beloved Harley Davidson motorcycle), disavow his gang affiliations, and ultimately pay his debt to society, with his release from prison in 2001.
Rick has never looked back. Now 50-years old, with piercing blue eyes, massive tattooed-covered arms, a wonderful wife and a beautiful young daughter, Rick’s story of redemption is breathtaking. So too is his commitment to his current profession, speaking to young people across the country about the dangers of gangs and drugs through his charity, Truth 4 Teens.
In his school sessions, Rick does not preach or cajole. His approach is not a Scared Straight! one, nor does he sensationalize his story of redemption. Rather, he honestly portrays the world of gangs and drugs and relates his miserable time lost in the struggle on the streets and behind bars. Then he simply allows young people to take over and ask whatever questions are on their mind, which most often helps them appreciate that even good families produce troubled youth; that silly mistakes made early can have a lifetime of negative consequences and, that no matter how bad things seems, one can always turn around their life.
Rarely does someone of Rick’s background make it to the other side, then leverage that life experience for productive purpose. Rick is a testament to a saying I often quote to others who demonize gangsters and suggest they should be locked up for life: "often, a gangster is not as bad as the worst thing they have ever done". Rick did the crime and did his time, and perhaps in a perverse way, we as a society are better for it.
I count Rick as a friend and ally in the fight against gangs, and I urge you to support Rick and his essential work – make a tax deductible donation to Truth 4 Teens today.
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