x
Breaking News
More () »

New drug initiative could be coming to Rock Island County

Police in Lee County say a new initiative to curb drug addiction has been a great success. They’ve been able to keep fewer addicts out of jail and more re...

Police in Lee County say a new initiative to curb drug addiction has been a great success. They've been able to keep fewer addicts out of jail and more receiving treatment they need. The program could be coming to the Quad Cities.

Six months ago, Lee County, Illinois started a different approach when it comes to drug addiction. They started the Safe Passage initiative. If a drug user calls or comes in asking for help, police and sheriff's deputies connect them with a treatment center instead of putting them under arrest. Lee County has partnered up with 10 different treatment centers.

"When someone comes to a police station who suffering from a heroin addiction and ask for help that's a huge sign of their readiness," said Dixon Police Chief, Danny Langloss.

Since September, the program has helped 43 people. Supporters say they're able to keep repeated offenders out of jail, adding up to the ten fewer prisoners each month.

"A big thing about jail and putting people suffering from addiction in there, is that one it strengthens their addiction and two it makes them engage in more criminal activity," said Langloss.

Lee County's success is now inspiring other counties to do the same. Whiteside County started it's program this month and now Rock Island County may do the same.

"We want to be prepared that when we do get a larger volume cases we're able to really be already up and running with this program," said Rock Island County Sheriff, Geri Bustos.

Langloss says the program is keeping the cost down for taxpayers and hopefully the number of overdoses, "We want to break that cycle, get them the help they need and get them on the right path."

Before You Leave, Check This Out