TAMPA, FL, February 27th, 2025—The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) successfully hosted its 2025 National Law Enforcement Summit in Tampa, Florida, from February 25th to 26th. The two-day event, PAARI’s sixth annual summit, brought together over 400 attendees nationwide, fostering collaboration and innovation in law enforcement deflection programs.
The summit began with a Welcome Celebration on Monday, February 24. More than 100 attendees gathered for an evening of networking ahead of official programming.
On Tuesday, February 25, the event opened with remarks from John Rosenthal, PAARI Board Chair and Co-Founder, Tampa Police Chief Lee Beecaw and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who welcomed participants and emphasized the importance of police-led programs.
Following opening remarks, the summit featured its first panel discussion, “Law Enforcement Champions in the Field of Deflection,” highlighting key leaders in the field: Lieutenant Sarko Gergerian, Sergeant Dwayne Harris, Deputy Chief Maria Yturria, and Lieutenant Ryan Macherone. A longstanding favorite among attendees, this session provided firsthand insights into the challenges and successes of implementing deflection programs across various levels and jurisdictions.
The first day concluded with a reception at the Tampa River Center, where PAARI honored its 2025 Leadership Award Winners. The event celebrated individuals and agencies making significant strides in the field of deflection. You can read more about the Leadership Award winners here.
Over the two days of the summit, attendees engaged in 32 presentations and panel discussions covering various topics, including deflection and diversion program development, buy-in, leadership, partnership building, innovative ideas, lived experience, funding, emerging threats, and data collection.
“Our summit is the most anticipated event for our team and PAARI partners,” said Zoe Grover, PAARI Executive Director. “We were thrilled to bring this year’s conference to Tampa and are grateful to Mayor Castor and Chief Bercaw for their warm welcome. We hope attendees left feeling inspired, ready with new ideas, and more committed than ever to advancing deflection initiatives in their communities.”
###
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 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.
