The purpose of the program is to increase awareness and coordination of services.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pennsylvania — West Lampeter Township Officer Jesse Blank has a new partner for his Sunday afternoon patrol.
It is part of a new coordinated walking program developed by Models for addiction recoverya group of drug treatment facilities.
The show launched on September 3.
“This whole travel program is just about building relationships with law enforcement and communities,” said Chris Dreisbach, executive director of Blueprints for Addiction Recovery and co-founder of second chance PA.
So far, eight Lancaster County departments, including West Lampeter Township, have joined the project.
“It’s a huge benefit for us to learn about the different programs that are available to help us do our jobs and provide different avenues of treatment for people,” said West Lampeter Police Officer Jesse Blank.
Dreisbach said that by allowing recovery specialists and certified therapists to help patrol, police are given an additional tool to respond to someone in a crisis situation.
“Having an unarmed first responder responding with police who are there without a weapon, without handcuffs, really just for the health of the community, I think it helps a lot to defuse situations,” Dreisbach said.
As someone who personally battled drug addiction and worked through recovery, Dreisbach said he has a unique ability to connect with others facing similar struggles.
“We can get down to that person’s level because I’ve had experience as a person who wanted to commit suicide, a person in recovery from a substance use disorder and I’ve lived through those situations,” he explained. .
For the police, it is a new way of learning about other avenues of intervention, which may not necessarily include arrest.
“We’re 24/7, they’re 24/7, so having that relationship with them is really important so we can make that connection early on. ” said Officer Blank.
Both parties hope that the program will help them do their respective jobs even better.
“If we are able to trust each other 100 percent, we can better serve the community together,” Dreisbach said.
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