Tampa, FL, January 29, 2025 – The Police-Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) is thrilled to announce the details of its 2025 National Law Enforcement Summit.
This highly anticipated annual event will take place on February 25-26, 2025, at Hotel Flor in Tampa, Florida. The two-day summit will bring together over 300 attendees from the professions of law enforcement, public safety, and public health to engage in presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities focused on the field of deflection.
Attendees will gain valuable insights from speakers nationwide, including local leaders such as Chief Anthony Holloway of the Saint Petersburg Police Department and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who will deliver the opening remarks on the first day of the event.
“I am honored to welcome the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative to Tampa for their 6th Annual National Law Enforcement Summit,” said Mayor Jane Castor. “As a former Chief of Police, I understand the critical importance of initiatives that strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. I am privileged to deliver the opening remarks to kick off this summit, promoting awareness of local and national deflection initiatives.”
Key presentation topics include:
- Building Trust between Police and Community
- Grant Writing for Law Enforcement 101
- How We Think about Substance Use Matters: Amplifying the Voices of Individuals with Lived Experience to Increase Collaboration and Partnership amongst Peers Stakeholders.
- Hub/Situation Tables: Implementation, Lessons Learned, and Practical Advice
- Law Enforcement Champions in the Field of Deflection
- Patrolling the Streets: How Law Enforcement and Harm Reduction Can Work Together
“We are excited to welcome partners from over 25 states to gather in Tampa this February,” said Zoe Grover, PAARI Executive Director. “The summit is a highlight of the year for our network, and we’re thrilled to bring this event to a new location. Each year, the field of deflection grows and evolves, and this summit provides an opportunity for public safety and public health professionals to learn, share, and collaborate.”
###
ABOUT PAARI: Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (PAARI) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create deflection programs (I.e.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 800 police departments in 46 states.
PAARI works with more than 160 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. PAARI and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion and deflection 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.
