GOSHEN – Arrests for misdemeanor and low-level felony drug crimes will be the focus of a 120-day trial program that will try to alleviate any court or legal action or jail time.
Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler announced the creation of the diversionary program Monday, which will be used in the cities of Middletown and Port Jervis, the Village of Maybrook and in the towns of Crawford, Highlands and Mount Hope.
“We have seen such a precipitous spike in overdoses and overdose deaths due the pandemic and due to the unintended consequences of bail reform. People are not going to jail or diversion drug courts,” said Hoovler.
Enrollment in these programs is down 45 percent, and Hoovler said something had to be done to stem the overdose problem.
“We decided with police chiefs we needed to come forward, and we needed to take action,” said Hoovler. “We needed a public health-centered approach, and this is what we came up with.”
If a police officer encounters an individual with a drug problem, the individual will have the choice to choose either being arrested or entering a diversion program. And Hope Not Handcuffs recently received a federal grant of nearly $300,000 to help these individuals find a treatment program.
Hoovler said the idea of the diversionary program has been around for about five years until that federal grant became available.
“We never had the pathway Hope Not Handcuffs gives us,” he said. “That was the missing piece of the puzzle.”
The program has been tested on a small scale, and the results have produced the optimism to move the program to a broader base.
“I think we’re going to see some success here,” said Hoovler. “We will see handful of people at first, and it will slowly build with time.”
