Breaking Down Barriers: Program decriminalizes addiction by emphasizing recovery, not jail
ALAMOSA, Colo. — They are struggling, often at the lowest point in their lives. Then they’re arrested. Charged with a crime, they face fines, fees and maybe even a lengthy sentence behind bars.
They come from varied backgrounds and walks of life. The events that led them into the courtroom are nuanced. Nevertheless, they face a rigid system predicated on the notion that, no matter the reasons behind their actions, those who’ve committed a crime must be punished. One rural Colorado town is rethinking this approach though.
Sandwiched between the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains, Alamosa lies in the center of southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
Originally built around the railroad, with lines connecting passengers to Denver and Santa Fe, today, its roughly 10,000 residents enjoy well-maintained downtown streets that are lined with a mix of buildings from the late-1800s to modern storefronts. The sidewalks are clean and lined with public art installations, and on the eastern edge of downtown, the Rio Grande flows past City Hall as it twists south toward New Mexico.
Much like Las Vegas, New Mexico, Alamosa is a small community in an isolated part of the state. It is home to a public college — Adams State University — which has around 3,000 students, similar to enrollment at New Mexico Highlands University.
Las Vegas and Alamosa are alike in that many people live below the poverty line, and many struggle with addiction to drugs or alcohol. These factors have contributed to a high number of property crimes in Alamosa, like trespassing, shoplifting and theft. City leaders are addressing these problems in a unique way though. They’ve implemented a program known as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, a program that began in Seattle, Washington, in 2011.
Bringing LEAD to Alamosa
As opioid use, addiction, homelessness and crime increased, city leaders in Alamosa began searching for ways to heal the community and help those in need.
The current model of arresting people for drug possession or for sleeping someplace they shouldn’t wasn’t working, according to Alamosa City Manager Heather Brooks. No matter how many arrests were made, many in the community were still fighting battles with addiction, and it resulted in the court system being overloaded with a large number of repeat offenders.
As Brooks and other city leaders searched for ways to lessen those struggles, in 2016, a group of city councilors presented the idea of LEAD, a program they’d learned about while meeting with the Colorado Municipal League, a nonprofit group that advises Colorado municipalities on a variety of issues.
Brooks and her staff began working to bring the program to Alamosa. Though they recognized it likely wasn’t a solution for all of the city’s problems, they considered it a good first step. One major hurdle stood in the way though: funding the program.
It took nearly two years, but funding the program became a reality when, in January 2018, the Office of Behavioral Health received $5.2 million from the state’s legislature — drawn from Colorado’s Marijuana Tax Cash Fund — to fund diversion programs like LEAD.
“We’re really fortunate that our council is willing to take some political risk, and to try something new,” Brooks said. “But if it wasn’t for the grant through the Office of Behavioral Health at the state level, we wouldn’t be able to afford to do this.”
With interest in the program from Alamosa’s mayor, city council, police department and the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the City of Alamosa was selected as one of four Colorado cities to receive funding up to $575,000 per year for a LEAD pilot program.
For the first 27 months of Alamosa’s LEAD program, the city received $1.2 million in state funding, according to Brooks. Funding for the program was set to expire June 30, but the state has since extended it for at least two years.
Treatment, not incarceration
In cities across the country, police officers respond to a variety of crimes, from domestic disputes, to serious assaults and even murders. Plenty other calls involve break-ins, burglaries, shoplifting and other thefts.
Oftentimes, during an arrest for non-violent and misdemeanor crimes, police officers locate drugs or drug paraphernalia — indications that the person might struggle with addiction. Other times, officers have arrested the same person multiple times and may already know of an addiction.
When faced with this situation, officers in Alamosa have the option to arrest the person and take them to jail. But it is just that: an option. Under LEAD, the officer can also choose to refer the person to a treatment program.
According to Chief of Police Ken Anderson, while making an arrest, an officer will examine the facts in the case, and the person’s criminal history. If the officer feels diversion to a treatment program could be beneficial, the officer will contact a social worker and even transport the person to meet with counselors.
“Taking people to jail and detox just isn’t the answer all the time,” Anderson said.
All program referrals come from police officers because they have the most interaction with people in need of help, and they know their history, Anderson said.
If someone facing criminal charges is accepted into treatment, those charges are deferred while they begin the program. Once a program participant completes the intake process, the diverted charges are dismissed altogether.
The decision whether to arrest someone or divert them to a treatment program is always at the officer’s discretion, and there’s a list of crimes that automatically disqualify someone from being eligible for the program — for instance, violent crimes or the sale of illegal narcotics.
Getting help doesn’t require an arrest though. If officers know that someone is struggling with addiction, they will offer them help whenever they encounter them.
“It’s a small community,” Anderson said. “We know who needs help, and who wants help.”
This story has been supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, solutionsjournalism.org. The next installment will explore how the LEAD program has reduced arrests in the San Luis Valley.
