Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-742-3922
Email: ben@jgpr.net
Plymouth County Outreach Featured in National Policing Magazine
East Bridgewater and Plymouth Police Chiefs Help Pen Article in The Police Chief Magazine
TO READ THE ARTICLE CLICK HERE
EAST BRIDGEWATER — Chief Scott Allen is pleased to announce that Plymouth County Outreach was recently featured in the March issue of The Police Chief Magazine.
The nationally distributed magazine is a product of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The entire March issue was dedicated to the topic of current issues involving drugs.
The 3,700-word article entitled “Leading a Community Solution to a Community Problem” was penned by Chief Allen and Plymouth Police Chief Michael Botieri, with the assistance of Stonehill College assistant criminology professor Pamela Kelley, Roger Williams University criminal justice professor Sean Varano and Patrick Nevins, assistant director of grants and special projects in the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.
The article provides an in-depth look at the opioid epidemic that local law enforcement has been dealing with for more than a decade. It highlights the tactics, partnerships and ongoing efforts to find solutions that help save lives and offer substance users the help and recovery options they need.
Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) is an opioid prevention and recovery coalition made up of 27 municipal police departments in Plymouth County, along with the Bridgewater State University Police.
PCO has partnered with healthcare and treatment and recovery agencies, along with local coalitions, faith-based organizations and four of the five hospitals in the county, to help overcome the opioid epidemic in Plymouth County.
“Having Plymouth County Outreach and our county collaboration featured in the magazine is an honor and a privilege. It has taken a lot of dedication and hard work by our coalition to get PCO where it is today,” Chief Allen said.
Said Chief Botieri, “While we don’t profess to have all of the answers, it is great to be able to use the magazine as a platform to share what we have learned with law enforcement members across the country. This epidemic is something we are all dealing with.”
TO READ THE ARTICLE CLICK HERE
About Plymouth County Outreach:
All 28 Plymouth County police chiefs have committed to working across the county in proactively assisting those impacted by the opioid crisis. As PCO has evolved, since expanding in December 2016, its organizational structure has grown to include an advisory board. The board is made up of 12 police chiefs and also includes three physicians from South Shore Hospital, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital and Plymouth’s Board of Health and an executive from South Shore Hospital. This group has been meeting regularly to further develop and enhance PCO’s goals.
The chiefs and advisory board are pleased to announce that Governor Charlie Baker, in his FY’19 budget, has earmarked $100,000 in funds to support PCO as a pilot program, with the goal of hiring a full-time program coordinator. The advisory board has also worked to extend its partnerships with leaders in the healthcare, public health, treatment and recovery fields to further PCO’s mission. PCO’s board has worked to extend partnerships with neighboring county’s as well, working to open lines of communication using its multi-jurisdictional approach with neighbor cities and towns.
Plymouth County Outreach is a collaborative of police departments throughout Plymouth County led by the following chiefs: Abington Chief David Majenski, Bridgewater Chief Christopher Delmonte, Bridgewater State University Chief David Tillinghast, Brockton Chief John Crowley, Carver Chief Marc Duphily, Duxbury Chief Matthew Clancy, East Bridgewater Chief Scott Allen, Halifax Chief Ted Broderick, Hanover Chief Walter Sweeney, Hanson Chief Michael Miksch, Hingham Chief Glenn Olsson, Hull Chief John Dunn, Kingston Chief Maurice Splaine, Lakeville Chief Frank Alvihiera, Marion Chief Lincoln Miller, Marshfield Chief Phillip Tavares, Mattapoisett Chief Mary Lyons, Middleboro Chief Joseph Perkins, Norwell Chief Ted Ross, Pembroke Chief Richard Wall, Plymouth Chief Michael Botieri, Plympton Chief Patrick Dillon, Rochester Chief Paul Magee, Rockland Chief John Llewellyn, Scituate Chief Michael Stewart, Wareham Chief Kevin Walsh, West Bridgewater Chief Victor Flaherty and Whitman Chief Scott D. Benton.
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