For Immediate Release
Friday, March 4, 2016
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 781-791-7627
Email: john@jgpr.net
Salamanca, N.Y. Police Department Joins P.A.A.R.I., Begins Addiction Recovery Initiative
Program Launched on March 1
SALAMANCA- Chief Troy Westfall is pleased to announce that the Salamanca Police Department is working with The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) to further its addiction outreach and recovery program, Community Connections.
Police began the program on March 1 and are following the Arlington Outreach Initiative model. Through this initiative, outreach coordinators contact people they know are struggling with addiction and help them develop a plan for long-term recovery. As part of the department’s overall plan to combat addiction in their community, police will also look to incorporate the Gloucester ANGEL Program in the coming months.
Seneca Strong and the Gowanda Police Department are collaborating with Salamanca Police to reach out to those struggling with the disease of addiction. Identifying information will be provided to a Seneca Strong Community Connections Outreach Coordinator, who will visit with individuals in need of recovery services and work to get them into a treatment program.
Meetings will also be set up with people struggling with addiction, along with their families and loved ones, to provide a wide variety of services, resources and treatment options. Residents who indicate a need for inpatient services will be paired with treatment and recovery centers locally and from P.A.A.R.I.’s nationwide network.
Additionally, police began carrying Nasal Naloxone on May 1 to save lives. In 2015, Salamanca had five fatal overdoses. This translates to one death per 1,000 residents. Working with the Southern Tier Overdose Protection Program (STOPP), a community-based opioid overdose prevention group that distributes Narcan, police were able to get immediate supplies and training to combat the number of overdose deaths that were occurring in the city. STOPP has pledged to support the Salamanca Police Department with their addiction recovery initiative.
“We know this heroin epidemic has been difficult for all, but our area has been hit particularly hard and we had to do more to get our residents help battling the disease of addiction,” Chief Westfall said. “We’re extremely grateful for our community partnerships with P.A.A.R.I., STOPP and Seneca Strong, as they give us the tools to implement recovery efforts through Community Connections.”
Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal, co-founders of P.A.A.R.I., are pleased to see Salamanca Police join the national movement to end drug addiction. They applaud Chief Westfall’s commitment to the cause, as it allows more people who are struggling with addiction to reach out and obtain the resources they need to recover.
About P.A.A.R.I.
The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) was launched to support police departments around the nation as they work to help those suffering from the disease of addiction. The United States faces a nationwide heroin and opioid epidemic, with more people now dying from overdoses than from car accidents in this country. 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 those struggling with the disease of addiction to 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 police departments and those struggling with the disease of addiction.
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