GOSHEN – A new LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) pilot program is planned to be announced for five departments within the Mid-Hudson region – City of Middletown, City of Port Jervis, Crawford, Highland and Mount Hope. LEAD in the Mid-Hudson will be mostly aimed toward low-level drug offenses, specifically criminal possession in the seventh degree, a low-level misdemeanor that is usually charged to addicts possessing small quantities of Schedule 1 drugs and particularly in the region, heroin and fentanyl.
Upon arrest, individuals will be given a choice by a liaison interventionist, such as an Angel from Hope Not Handcuffs. At that point, the individual is taken to treatment that day, or given three to five days to comply. If that individual completes approximately 120 days of some form of substance abuse treatment, they will not be charged.
However, according to Hope Not Handcuffs Program Director Annette Kahrs, whether the individual is arrested in the first place, rather than being set up with an intervention organization, is at their discretion.
“We don’t think that the criminal justice is the way for people to recover,” said Kahrs. “That being said, we don’t make that determination. Some people we know who have been incarcerated have gone into recovery that way and are long-standing in recovery. We don’t make that decision, we just know that if we’re called, we go,” said Kahrs.
The official announcement is expected to be made next month by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
