Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon co-chairs panel with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at Essex County symposium on opioid addiction

Published on April 01, 2019

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon partnered with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on a panel discussion of community outreach and alternative policing methods at a symposium in Belleville Tuesday that brought together federal, county and state leaders to strategize on curbing the nation's opioid epidemic.

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon gestures to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka while co-chairing a panel with the mayor at a symposium in Belleville on April 9 that brought together law enforcement and judicial leaders on ways to curtail the opioid epidemic.

The symposium, attended by about 300 law enforcement and judicial representatives, was hosted by the City of Newark Department of Public Safety in collaboration with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the Essex County Sheriff's Office.

Sharing the dais with Mayor Baraka for a discussion moderated by Newark Department of Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, Sheriff Gannon highlighted outreach programs he has instituted, including his hallmark Hope One mobile substance use recovery and resource vehicle.

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon speaks about community outreach and alternative policing at a symposium in Belleville on April 9 that brought together law enforcement leaders and the judiciary to talk strategies on fighting the opioid abuse epidemic.

The city of Newark researched Morris County's program and launched its own Hope One-Newark mobile program in December.

Since the Hope One vehicle started its biweekly stops in Morris County on April 3, 2017, it has made 247 stops in areas where fatal overdoses are occurring and at-risk and homeless people are known to be living. The Hope One staff, overseen by Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano “ who drove the vehicle to the symposium at Nanina's In The Park in Belleville “ has made 6,445 contacts with individuals since the launch and trained 1,651 people in the life-saving overdose antidote NARCAN.

While Morris County law enforcement agencies are aggressive against drug dealers, and the Morris County Sheriff's Office assisted in the March takedown of a heroin pill mill suspected of causing at least 84 deaths with its product, there also is a duty to help users ravaged by addiction, Sheriff Gannon said.

From left, Newark Police Chief Darnell Henry, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Morris County Undersheriff Mark Spitzer, and Mount Olive Police Chief Steve Beecher. Sheriff Gannon co-chaired a panel with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at a symposium in Belleville that gathered leaders to strategize on ways to fight opioid abuse.

This drug problem makes us wear two hats, Sheriff Gannon said in his remarks. We have to maintain our warrior status. We have to focus on the identification, arrest and conviction of the for-profit opioid dealer.

But I think we need that guardian piece. In your communities, people are dying from opioid addiction, the Sheriff said.

The sheriff noted a mosaic of programs that address substance use disorders in Morris County, including the STAR program started at the Morris County Correctional Facility in October to assist inmates about to be discharged re-enter society with housing, medical and social plans in place. The Sheriff's Office on April 3 - the two-year anniversary of the Hope One program - launched the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative (PAARI) that involves local police officers helping people struggling with addiction to connect with certified peer recovery specialists.

On left, New Jersey State Police Major Mike Rinaldi with Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon beside the Sheriff's Office's Hope One mobile substance use recovery and resource vehicle, at an opioid epidemic symposium in Belleville on April 9.

Recovering opioid user Alton Robinson, a certified peer recovery specialist who has worked aboard Hope One in Morris County, gave the audience a glimpse into his addiction and how he was ready to make a life change during his last arrest in 2014. Robinson thanked police officers for the humane way they treated him, and said officers well-trained in dealing with people struggling with addiction can be the first line of salvation.

The symposium provided attendees with the chance to network and hear from other county and federal officials on criminal justice programs that take into account the immense challenges facing substance users.

Dr. Doug Marlowe, Chief of Science, Law and Policy at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, gave the audiences a riveting look at the neuroscience of addiction. Dr. Marlowe opined that incarceration is completely ineffective against addiction, which virtually always requires medication therapy.

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon co-chaired a panel with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (at microphone) on community outreach and alternative policing at a symposium in Essex County on April 9, 2019 on the devastating opioid misuse epidemic.

Incarceration has no therapeutic value, he said.

From left, Melissa Maney, Sierra McEniry, Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano, Ken Palmisano, and in back, Morris County Sheriff's Office Corrections Bureau Captain Michael Morsch. All are involved in Sheriff's Office initiatives to stem opioid abuses and fatal overdoses and attended a symposium on April 9 in Belleville where state and federal leaders strategized on ways to combat opioid addiction.

The symposium speakers included: Hon. Jose L. Linares, Chief Judge for the District of New Jersey; Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose; Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura; Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Ted Stephens, II; and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Craig Carpenito.

Speakers also included: U.S. District Judge Hon. Esther Salas, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hon. Michael Hammer, Chief of U.S. Pretrial Services Agency Christine A. Dozier, Senior Deputy Chief U.S. Probation Officer Maureen Kelly, NJ Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration Susan Gibson, and State Police Major Mike Rinaldi.