BOSTON, MA May 30, 2023 – The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) is pleased to announce the deserving recipients of the 2023 Leadership Awards.
Since its inception in 2015, PAARI has flourished into a nationally recognized movement in the field of deflection and has partnered with over 650 law enforcement agencies to date. The nonprofit’s 8th annual Leadership Awards recognize the individuals whose support of PAARI programs has been instrumental to the success of the organization.
“These recipients are leaders in the field of deflection and deserve to be recognized,” says Zoe Grover, Executive Director at PAARI. “These awards serve as a small token of our appreciation in saying thank you for all that you do. PAARI is only able to be successful because of passionate and dedicated individuals like these.”
PAARI’s 8th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Foundation Room at the Boston House of Blues at 15 Lansdowne St, Boston, MA 02215.
PAARI partners and the public are invited to celebrate this milestone and join in recognizing these esteemed award recipients. Tickets to the event can be purchased online HERE.
2023 Leadership Awards:
Leadership in Advocacy and Community
Dr. Daniel Muse, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital
Chelsea HUB Team
Judge Linda Davis, Executive Director, Families Against Narcotics
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Sheriff, TX
Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy
Leadership in Government
Congressman Seth Moulton, Massachusetts’s 6th congressional district
Congressman Paul Tonko, New York’s 20th congressional district
Melissa O’Mara, Assistant Prosecutor, Burlington County NJ
Leadership in Public Safety
Chief Steve D’Agata, Liberty Village, NY
Detective Dani Sinclair, Director, Essex County Outreach
Chief William Bonney, Waterville, ME
Corporal Erica Valvano, Morris County Sheriff, NJ
Written by, Isabella Nowak
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About PAARI: The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (PAARI) 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, Mass., Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, PAARI has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, strategic guidance, connection to training resources, and other capacity-building resources to more than 650 police departments in 40 states.
PAARI works with more than 130 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. PAARI 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 tens of thousands of lives, changed police culture, and reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic since its founding in June 2015. Learn more at paariusa.org.
