As part of the ongoing effort to confront the opiate crisis, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett is hosting a training for local police “Drugs in Our Communities: Strategies for Effective Law Enforcement From Diversion to Prosecution,” on Thursday, December 10.
Attorney General Maura Healy will give opening remarks at the half-day training.
Mark Kennard, Executive Director of Project COPE, and Mary-Alice Doyle, Deputy First Assistant District Attorney, will provide an overview of the Essex Adult Drug Diversion program including recently compiled statistics on who the program serves and its effectiveness. The program offers non-violent drug offenders the opportunity to seek treatment in lieu of prosecution.
Approximately 150 police officers from nearly every department in Essex County have registered to attend the free training.
“There is no single solution to the drug problem in the Commonwealth,” District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said. “This training seeks to inform local police officers of the options available to offenders who are drug-addicted while providing information that will strengthen our prosecutions of those who pose a threat to public safety such as drugged drivers and drug traffickers.”
The training is on Thursday, December 10 at the Marriott on Centennial Drive in Peabody, MA.
