For Immediate Release

Wednesday. Aug. 12, 2015

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Lee County and Dixon, Ill. Police Partner with P.A.A.R.I. to Create Gloucester-Style Addiction Initiative

“Safe Passage Initiative,” Modeled on Gloucester ANGEL Initiative, Begins Sept. 1

Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative Adds Partners in Illinois as Message of Hope Spreads Nationwide

GLOUCESTER, Mass., and DIXON, Ill. — Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello, and John Rosenthal, co-founders of The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) are pleased to announce a partnership with the Dixon Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff, both located in northwestern Illinois, about 100 miles from Chicago.

On Sept. 1, the two law enforcement groups will launch The Safe Passage Initiative: Police Giving Hope to Addicts Through the Tools For Recovery, an addiction recovery initiative modeled after Gloucester, aimed at encouraging addicts to seek the help of police officers and sheriff’s deputies, who will in turn get them into treatment.

The program makes Lee County and Dixon the first P.A.A.R.I. partner agencies in Illinois.

“We are excited to partner with the Gloucester Police Department and P.A.A.R.I. as we change the way law enforcement looks at and addresses addiction,” Chief Langloss said. “Addiction is a pervasive disease, and law enforcement can play an active role in reducing the demand for drugs, not just the supply. Real lives are at stake.”

Lee County Sheriff John Simoton and Dixon Police Chief Dan Langloss earlier this year collaborated with Safe Harbor of Lee County, as well as PRISM of Lee County, Lee County Health Department, Sinnissippi Centers, and KSB Hospital, State’s Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller, and A Man in Recovery Foundation of Naperville, Ill. to launch an addiction recovery forum.  Those productive discussions eventually led local officials to reach out to the Gloucester Police Department for more information on the Gloucester ANGEL Initiative.

As part of the new law enforcement policies, Dixon Police Officers and Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies will now carry Nasal Narcan in their cruisers and officers have already begun conducting community training and free distribution of Narcan doses. Narcan, an “opioid antagonist” can help reverse the effects of an overdose, potentially saving the life of an addict. It will be free to first responders and family members in households where there’s a person struggling with opioid addiction.

Additionally, the groups have created a substance abuse hotline, 866-494-4431, in collaboration with Worship Center Ministries of Dixon, for people suffering with opioid addiction and their families to call for information, resources and to learn about treatment options under the Safe Passage Program.

Partnering with the Lee County Health Department and other health service providers, police will also reach out and identify opioid addicts and provide them with health insurance options, which will make it easier to seek treatment.

The agencies have already begun to establish their own partnerships with treatment facilities, and they will now have access to P.A.A.R.I.’s growing list of nearly 30 treatment centers in more than 10 states.

“I am extremely proud to stand with my fellow law enforcement leaders in Illinois as they take an active role in helping those in the grip of addiction,” Chief Campanello said. “Police officers have an obligation to help people, and we have the discretion to do more than just put people in handcuffs.”

“Lee County and Dixon have today joined a conversation that says law enforcement can play an active role in treating the disease of addiction,” added John Rosenthal. “We are very happy to partner with these proactive agencies, and P.A.A.R.I. stands ready to assist them in a variety of ways.”

About P.A.A.R.I.

P.A.A.R.I. was started to support local police departments as they work with opioid addicts. Rather than arrest our way out of the problem of drug addiction, P.A.A.R.I. committed police departments:

• Encourage opioid drug users to seek recovery
• Help distribute life saving opioid blocking drugs to prevent and treat overdoses
• Connect people suffering with opioid addiction with treatment programs and facilities
• Provide resources to other police departments and communities that want to do more to fight the opioid addiction epidemic

P.A.A.R.I. was created by Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal to bridge the gap between the police department and opioid addicts seeking recovery.

###