The Dixon Police Department and Lee County Sheriff's Office will soon be offering a new, progressive plan to nip heroin addiction in the bud.
Heroin addicts who want to kick their addiction will be given the option to turn themselves in , along with their drugs and drug paraphernalia, to the police or sheriff's department in exchange for treatment. Dixon's Chief of Police, Danny Langloss, said this is a new way to look at the heroin problem Lee County is battling.
"We don't think somebody should have to be arrested for a felony to get the treatment and help they need, and that's where this program comes in," Langloss said.
The program was modeled after one that was started on June 1, 2015 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where the police department have seen dozens of people turn themselves in for help. In order to make the program a reality, Dixon officials are working with treatment facilities across the Northern-Illinois area, negotiating a deal that would make at least 10 beds available at all times for patients who turn themselves in.
Langloss said they must have those beds available at a number of facilities for the program to work.
"In that crucial moment when somebody addicted to heroin says 'I want help,' you've got to be able to provide them help because there is a narrow window there due to withdrawals and all of the negative symptoms that come when they stop using," Langloss explained.
In the past few months, the Dixon Police Department has already found treatment for six heroin addicts, Langloss said.
Langloss added once the program rolls out, which he hopes is by September 1, 2015, it will transform the way police prevent crime in the area.
"We're going to reduce crime; we're going to reduce violence; we're going to get people's lives turned around and get them back on track for them and for their family."