By: Erin Smith
In partnership with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, Leland Police Department, and Fayetteville Police Department, the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition will host two regional gatherings on Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion or LEAD.
LEAD is a new way of looking at policing and how law enforcement responds to low level crimes such as drug arrests. LEAD was developed in 2011 in Seattle, WA in response to the “War on Drugs.” Through the LEAD program law enforcement officers have the ability at first contact to send the individual to a program for mental health, drug treatment, housing, etc.
Kris Nyrop, LEAD National Support Director, said that King County, WA was the first to utilize the LEAD approach.
“We got started in October 2011. We started out on a pilot basis and it (LEAD) has met with enough success locally that we are expanding it nationally,” said Nyrop.
He said that King County folks came about this new approach to policing through what Nyrop termed as “natural collective exhaustion” in 2009 and 2010.
“Everybody agreed that the current status quo (in 2010) was broken,” said Nyrop.
He said King County began to search for new, innovative ways to handle low level drug offenses. Nyrop said that civil rights advocates, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, business leaders, all agreed that the system, as it was designed at that time, was not meeting anyone’s needs. Nyrop said those groups all sat down together and discussed ways to improve the system and the LEAD program was born.
Nyrop said that LEAD has received three evaluation reports and the each report shows the program to be working with a reduction in the rate of recidivism among program participants.
“We saw a dramatic decline in recidivism among those diverted into LEAD versus those who are sent through the traditional criminal justice process,” said Nyrop.
He added that the longer someone is in the LEAD program, the better the results are for that individual. This reduces the number of individuals that are burdening the court system and district attorneys and law enforcement officers maintain contact with the LEAD case manger to ensure that any criminal prosecutions are coordinated with the individual’s service plan. The goal is initiate behavioral change in the individual.
According to a release, “After three years of operation in Seattle, a 2015 independent, non-randomized controlled outcome study found that LEAD participants were 58% less likely to be arrested after enrollment in the program, compared to a control group that went through “system as usual” criminal justice processing. With significant reductions in recidivism, LEAD functions as a public safety program that has the potential to decrease the number of those arrested, incarcerated, and are otherwise caught up in the criminal justice system.”
Nyrop said that the costs associated with the LEAD program involve Social Services. He said there are no increased costs for law enforcement and the prosecutors’ office.
“The costs are for the case manager salaries and for the services needed by the people referred to the LEAD program,” said Nyrop.
He said, for example, services would include drug treatment, mental health services and/or medical services. Nyrop said the LEAD program would give law enforcement officers one more tool when dealing with low level drug offenses. He explained that there are certain criteria an individual will need to meet before they can be referred to LEAD.
“By and large, police already have a great deal of discretion and prosecutors have a great deal of discretion as well,” said Nyrop.
For example, Nyrop said if you are caught jaywalking, the officer has the discretion of whether to issue you a citation or to give you a stern warning.
There are six goals to the LEAD program:
**Reorient government’s response to safety, disorder and health-related problems.
**Improve public safety and public health through research based, health-oriented, harm reduction interventions.
**Reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system for low level offenses related to drug use, mental health, sex work, and extreme poverty.
**Undo racial disparities at the front end of the criminal justice system.
**Sustain funding for alternative interventions by capturing and reinvesting justice system savings.
**Strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the community.
The first LEAD summit in our area will take place in Leland on May 10 and another event will take place in Fayetteville on May 11. Sign up details can be found by clicking here.
For more information on LEAD and how it is working in King County, WA, click here.
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