Diversion program thrives on cooperation, embraces skeptics

Alamosa, Colorado has lowered its jail population and the number of felony cases and arrests, and has broken the cycle of repeat offending, by diverting people with drug problems from prosecution into treatment. The local version of a national program called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) was modeled on one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which worked best when people in the program maintained a close relationship with their case workers. One of many problems those relationships solved: the high number of missed court dates, which result in arrest warrants.

By addressing drug addiction as a medical—rather than criminal—issue, Portugal has been able to reduce drug use as well as deaths caused by drugs. Strategies implemented include decriminalization, increased access to treatment, changes in prescribing patterns related to opioids, and ‘dissuasion’ courts.

The opioid crisis has resulted in numerous addictions, overdoses and deaths, leading North Carolina to reassess how they are handling the crisis. A rapid-response team checks on users after being given naloxone, health-care navigators will help users get treatment, and individuals will be sent to treatment instead of prison.

In one year, the drug overdoses in Roanoke, VA have taken 12 lives and another 76 have overdosed but survived. The police department developed a new program called the Roanoke Valley Hope Initiative, designed to provide rehabilitation without arrest for those who seek it. The program simulates the successful national effort to help drug abusers instead of incarcerating them.

In 2001, facing a 20-year opioid epidemic, Portugal decriminalized all personal drug use, meaning people carrying drugs for personal use could no longer face prosecution or jail. The approach, met with public support, offered people access to services like safe injection sites and counseling and showed demonstrable success in declining opioid related deaths, the spread of infectious diseases, and drug use all together. As the rest of the world faces a similar crisis, Portugal could be a model response.

By prioritizing treatment over law enforcement, Switzerland dramatically reduced its drug problem. In 1994, the country adopted a progressive policy to treat heroin addiction as a public health crisis, focusing on harm reduction, treatment, and prevention in addition to traditional law enforcement. The policy, which embraces medicated-assisted treatment and universal access to services, helped greatly reduce issues such as the incidence of HIV, drug overdoses, and deaths over the long-term.

After San Joaquin County adopted a slew of criminal justice reforms, crime dropped by 20 percent, the lowest number in a decade. One of the things that was implemented were speciality courts aimed at decreasing arrest time and helping “former prisoners find jobs, housing and treatment for mental health and addiction problems.” Other measures include ending cash bail and racial bias training. “Crime has always been issue No. 1, but the narrative in this city is one about being a second chance city.”

Washington’s Snohomish County has implemented a program that embeds social workers with the police. The program has been an effective method to bring services to people in need rather than arrest and process them as criminals.

In Philadelphia, the 22nd District police department has adopted the Police Assisted Diversion program, or PAD. The program trains police officers to take a public health approach to addiction and substance abuse, giving those they encounter who need treatment the option to go through treatment rather than the criminal justice system. Besides helping those with substance abuse issues, the PAD program seeks to build trust between the community and the police through on-the-ground engagement efforts.

Dixon is the second police department in the United States to stop jailing drug addicts and start helping them check into rehab centers instead. “We’re changing the way law enforcement views addiction — to see it as a disease, not a crime,” says Police Detective Jeff Ragan. At least 267 people have gone through the Safe Passage program so far, some multiple times, but the program seems to be working. Residential burglaries, retail thefts, and drug arrests have dropped.