BOSTON — Executive Director Allie Hunter McDade is very pleased to announce that a delegation of leaders from the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative will travel to Washington tomorrow for a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House.
While in Washington, P.A.A.R.I. will discuss the role of law enforcement in battling the nationwide opioid crisis and assisting those suffering from substance use disorders.
Members of the P.A.A.R.I. delegation are available for media interviews after the meeting. Reporters, networks, affiliates, and broadcast companies are asked to coordinate with their Washington bureaus.
Requests for interviews should be directed to John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC at 617-993-0003 or john@jgpr.net. Any coverage of the event itself should be coordinated with the White House Press Office.
WHEN:
TOMORROW — Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 at 11:30 a.m.
WHERE:
The White House, Washington
WHO:
- Allie Hunter McDade, P.A.A.R.I. Executive Director
- Sergeant Peter Messina, Boston Police Department
- Officer Joshua DeLisle, Boston Police Department
- Lieutenant David Murphy, Boston Police Department
- Chief Joseph Solomon, Methuen Police Department
- Lieutenant Steven Thomas, Anne Arundel County, Maryland Police Department
- Christopher DeGlopper, Greenfield, Wisconsin Police Department
WHAT:
P.A.A.R.I. has been invited by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to participate in an event at the White House.
Vice President Mike Pence will host a meeting with law enforcement leaders to discuss the nation’s drug epidemic and thank them for their service and leadership in this area.
The meeting will be a gathering of several hundred law enforcement leaders from around the country. Hunter McDade will be joined by approximately a dozen P.A.A.R.I. law enforcement leaders from Boston and Methuen, Massachusetts as well as Anne Arundel County, Maryland and Greenfield Wisconsin.
About P.A.A.R.I
The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery. Founded alongside the groundbreaking Gloucester Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, P.A.A.R.I has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, coaching, grants, and other capacity-building resources to more than 440 police departments in 32 states. We currently work with more than 100 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. P.A.A.R.I and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion programs become a standard policing practice across the country, thereby reducing overdose deaths, expanding access to treatment, improving public safety, reducing crime, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and increasing trust between law enforcement and their communities. Our programs and partners have saved thousands of lives, changed police culture, and reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic. Learn more at www.paariusa.org.
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