Kinder, Gentler Policing: Rethinking The War On Drugs

Aired on WHYY's The Pulse, Feb 2016, and New England Public Radio, March 2016.

Last year, the police chief of Gloucester Massachusetts made an unusual offer on his department’s Facebook page. Heroin addicts who come voluntarily to the police station will not get arrested; they’ll get help.The post went viral and led to the creation of  the Gloucester Angel program, in which the police help addicts find drug treatment options. The Gloucester effort has gotten national press and spread to dozens of other police departments around the country. Karen Brown spent time with one New England police chief who was inspired by the Gloucester example – though with not quite the same results. 

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Kinder, Gentler Policing: Rethinking The War On Drugs
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Montague Police Chief Chip Dodge