First New Hampshire police department joins initiative to assist opioid addicts
Moultonborough police became the first law enforcement agency from New Hampshire to join the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, launching their own program to help combat the state’s opioid epidemic.
The department said in a statement that instead of using customers lists from arrested drug dealers for “possible future enforcement action,’’ officers will reach out to the people listed and their families as part of their regular duties. The program is modeled on an outreach initiative started by the Arlington Police Department.
As part of the initiative, the department will draw on PAARI’s nationwide network to pair those suffering from addiction with treatment and recovery centers. Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello started PAARI earlier this year to bridge the gap between police and opioid addicts seeking recovery. Law enforcement agencies from Florida to Texas have signed on to the cause.
Moultonborough’s goal is to educate addicts, their families, friends, and caregivers, about treatment options and the resources available to them, the department said.
“New Hampshire faces an unprecedented addiction epidemic, and it is not something that we are going to enforce our way out of,’’ Chief Leonard Wetherbee Jr. said in a statement. “We can and must do more. There is some great outreach work being done in the Lakes Region, much of it led by the Laconia Police Department. Joining P.A.A.R.I. helps us with the treatment piece of the puzzle.’’
New Hampshire officials expect the state’s drug deaths to surpass 400 by the end of 2015, up from almost 200 in 2013.
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