Last spring Leonard Campanello, the police chief of Gloucester, Mass., made the following Facebook post, “Any addict who walks into the police station with the remainder of their drug equipment (needles, etc.) or drugs and asks for help will NOT be charged. Instead we will walk them through the system toward detox and recovery and send them for treatment “on the spot.” Thus was born the Angel program. It is now being used 56 police departments in 17 states.
In less than a year, 391 addicts have turned themselves to the Gloucester police department. About 40 percent are from the Gloucester area; the rest come from all over the country. All have been placed in treatment. Some have had relapses but as Chief Campanello has said addicts in his program were always welcomed back, no questions asked.
The program has helped reduce police department costs; the department spends an average of $55 for each addict compared with $220 spent to arrest, process and hold an addict in custody for a single day. The cost reduction is due largely to the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, which was founded for this specific purpose.
Did you know that more people die from drug overdoses than car accidents, homicides or suicides. In 2014 47,055 people nationwide died.
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