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Date: 7/5/2022
HOLYOKE – As debate on how to best deploy public safety resources ramped up at City Hall, local law enforcement made a public effort to raise awareness of new practices and policies to combat substance use and addiction in the city.
Flanked by members of their respective departments and staff from Behavioral Health Network (BHN), Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi and Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt took to the corner of Appleton and Elm streets on June 28 to highlight their Hope Through Help initiative, which is designed to refer members of the public encountered in situations of addiction, mental illness and homelessness to necessary wraparound services.
Cocchi called the effort, a complement to the Holyoke Police Department’s community policing efforts based at its Race Street center, an “innovative collaboration” focused on engaging members of the community in crisis through increased presence and patrols, steering them toward recovery rather than arresting and incarcerating. While currently limited to Holyoke, the sheriff said it is a model that should be incorporated in other communities experiencing high levels of drug use and transactions.
“That has been our goal – to get as much help and services to the people as we can and the sheriff, once again as a great partner, has stepped up to help us do that,” Pratt said. He explained the departments are in the midst of an initial “blitz” to increase the program’s visibility in various areas.
Cocchi also said he hoped to be able to share statistical information on whether the number of overdoses addressed by Holyoke Medical Center’s Emergency Department have decreased. “My bet is the days that we were out here collaboratively, they have,” he said.
The sheriff later added, “Let me tell you, a lot of people in the communities around the commonwealth don’t want sheriffs and police chiefs to do substance abuse. They feel they don’t go hand in hand. I disagree.”
The press event came on the heels of a June 27 meeting of the Public Safety Committee, which discussed orders from City Councilors Jose Maldonado-Velez and Israel Rivera focused on expanding the city’s community responder model. Members discussed the possible expansion of the current police program that has grown out of the “hub” location on Race Street as well as the creation of a separate Department of Public Care and Safety to address issues such as substance abuse, homelessness and mental illness.
Pratt discussed the current program with the committee, explaining there are four to five officers working in the program, two drug addiction detectives, a mental health clinician, crisis response partners and recovery coaches from BHN and members of the Sheriff’s Department all working together. All positions at the hub are funded through various grants.
Pratt said that the addition of staff from the Sheriff’s Department has enhanced the work they have been doing in the community and that officers go out in conjunction with members of the Sheriff’s Department and go to areas in the city that they feel they can make the most impact and reach the most people.
In terms of bringing in a new way to address drug addiction and interactions between officers and the public, Pratt says the hub fits into the whole puzzle and provides a foundational place where people can meet for these specific cases. He added he feels this is just the beginning of implementing more of these resources in the community.
When opened to questions from councilors, Maldonado-Velez asked Pratt what he felt doesn’t currently work for the hub and if there were any gaps in their services he was aware of. Pratt responded by saying one big challenge that they see is that some people still are not comfortable trusting and working with an officer in uniform.
“Some individuals, who may no matter what we do off site, will still have that apprehensive fear of police,” Pratt said. “We are still looking at that and thinking of a place you can go for help with no police at all. Maybe something that comes in time, but we aren’t there yet.”
Pratt added if a new group was formed for crisis response and drug related responses he would want them to have a seat at the hub to be involved in community discussions regarding their work. He also added while this is a challenge, currently more and more of the people they work with through the program have become aware of their duties and that they recognized these officers are working toward finding people help and not focused on policing the areas in which they work.
Other orders brought forward related to creating a new way of responding to non-violent and crisis-related individuals were packaged together during the meeting for discussion. Items 12 and 13 on the meeting agenda from Maldonado-Velez requested funding the Public Safety line item with $200,000 and creating a Department of Public Care and Safety that is separate from the Police and Fire departments and others currently being tasked with the job of public safety.
Through the proposal, the city would set up a department that would provide multiple types of civilian responders to community needs, including peer response to mental health and substance abuse crises as an alternative to police responses. Maldonado-Velez said he felt a program like this was the right move for the city and used the programs in Northampton and Amherst as local examples of creating a new way of crisis intervention without police force through trained mental health and substance abuse clinicians being available to respond to calls.
Northampton’s City Council and Amherst’s Town Council recently approved the creation of these departments, respectively known as the Department for Community Care and the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service.
Item 13 from Maldonado-Velez was an order to create a new role that would lead the Department of Public Care and Safety.
The committee took no vote on these orders, which will be discussed further by city officials. Maldonado-Velez was still adamant that his colleagues should consider his orders.
“I am grateful for chief giving us more on Race Street. I am still a believer that there should be a department that is created, and we can broaden the scope and be more intentional with what we do,” Maldonado-Velez said. “If this department would be created it would be collaborative with what’s already going on but I think in this conversation there is a lot of issues that would benefit from having a second department. I think it’s time police deal with real criminal stuff we are seeing in our city and start thinking of alternatives to other issues.”
Ward 5 Councilor Linda Vacon and At-Large Councilor Joseph McGiverin both spoke in favor of the current hub operation and credited the chief for their work. They also both shared similar sentiments on combating drug addiction both saying “tough love” was needed in combating drug addiction. Vacon was also present at the June 28 press event where she again voiced support for the Police Department’s efforts.
McGiverin suggested that when an individual’s addiction becomes “out of control” rehab and support systems like the hub can only do so much. He cited an example of tough love when mentioning the jail in Ludlow as having more options and possibly being be a better option than essentially aiding the public in question.
Vacon expressed similar thoughts and said from her own perspective it seems more people get over their drug addiction with time served as opposed to going to treatment. She added people will choose treatment to avoid incarceration and while she did not have any study to site or findings of her own, felt that at least a year in prison away from drugs would allow the person in question’s brain to resume the ability for rational decision making and thought. Vacon reiterated this was just her observation and she was not stating any facts.
Vacon also added that while she felt this was and was unsure of the need for a new program like the one suggested by Maldonado-Velez, she still felt that the city could not put their officers in positions where they are expected to be therapists and that the current programs set up was very strong due to their collaboration with BHN and other providers.
“It is very difficult in Massachusetts with all the patients’ rights laws to cause somebody to be placed into a long-term protective situation. I think our collaborative is kind of the best you can do to bring all the tools to the table,” Vacon said.