FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Isabella Nowak, PAARI Public Relations – isabella@paariusa.org
BOSTON, MA June 16, 2025 – The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) is proud to announce Chief Steve D’Agata of the Village of Liberty Police Department as the new Chair of its Public Safety Council. His appointment is effective immediately.
Chief D’Agata has been a dedicated member of PAARI’s Public Safety Council and a longtime partner in the organization’s mission to expand access to treatment and recovery. He has served as Chief of Police since April 2021, following a career as a Police Officer, Detective, and Detective Sergeant. He holds a dual bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and psychology from the State University of New York at Albany.
As a passionate advocate for community-based responses to substance use, Chief D’Agata played a key role in implementing the Hope Not Handcuffs (HNH) program in the Liberty Police Department in August 2021. The HNH initiative connects individuals struggling with substance use disorders to treatment and support through a partnership between law enforcement and community organizations in the New York Hudson Valley area.
“I am honored to be named the new Public Safety Council Chair,” said Chief D’Agata. “I am deeply passionate about the work PAARI does and look forward to taking on a leadership role to further the implementation of deflection programs across the country.”
Chief D’Agata succeeds Frederick Ryan, the retired Chief of Police in Arlington, MA, who has led the Public Safety Council since its founding in 2016.
“After nearly a decade of leading this initiative with PAARI, I believe it’s time to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders in this field,” said Chief Frederick Ryan (ret.) “As a founding member, I’ve had the privilege of watching PAARI grow from a bold idea into a national movement that has transformed how law enforcement engages with individuals struggling with substance use and mental illness. I wish Chief D’Agata the best in this new role and am confident that he will do a fantastic job carrying this mission forward.”
“We are thrilled to have Chief D’Agata become our new Public Safety Council Chair. His dedication and passion for this work are unwavering, and I am confident that his leadership will strengthen the Council’s impact in this new chapter,” said PAARI Executive Director Zoe Grover.
PAARI’s Public Safety Council is comprised of 11 members who meet quarterly to provide first responder insights, share best practices, and help to guide PAARI’s programs and initiatives to support individuals with substance use disorders.
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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 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.
