Butler 27th county to join Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Wednesday, Nov. 1, that Butler County would become the 27th county to join the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative.
“With the opioid epidemic killing 14 people a day in Pennsylvania, we need LETI in as many counties and towns as we possibly can,” Henry said.
LETI is a law-enforcement led program that assists people with substance use disorders in contacting the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program.
“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to reduce overdose deaths; we’re trying to reduce criminal sanctions and criminal behavior for those that have substance use disorder,” said Richard Goldinger, county district attorney. “And we’d like to reduce the stigma associated with those people who do have substance use disorder.”
LETI enables people seeking treatment to contact probation and parole services, the sheriff’s department and other county officials as liaisons for the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program — without the threat of arrest.
“We all know now that we cannot arrest our way out of this problem,” Henry said. “It is so imperative that we change the way we do things.”
In her 20 years as a prosecutor, Henry said repeatedly punishing drug offenses had little effect.
“It was like a revolving door, and it just happened over and over again,” she said. “And I can say that the reason for that was because back then, there was no treatment, there was no help, there was no helping it.”
Goldinger explained the program offers four options for referrals to the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program, with the primary method being a self-referral to local law enforcement or county officials.
The second option, he said, would be “law enforcement diversion.”
“This would be a situation where law enforcement would encounter somebody involved with criminal behavior that does have a substance use disorder,” Goldinger said. “If the individual is willing to go to treatment, the officer can make the referral through LETI for that person to go to treatment instead of then charging that individual — perhaps placing them in jail.”
A third option would allow district judges to refer individuals post-arrest, with the district attorney’s office having the final say on whether they were admitted into the LETI program.
“And then the final track would be drug treatment court,” Goldinger said.
Donna Jenereski, director of the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program, thanked Goldinger for his support of the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative and the county’s drug and alcohol program as a whole.
“This program is not about being soft on crime,” she said. “It’s about connecting people to the treatment they desperately need and holding them accountable.”
Jason Beckwith — a resident in long-term recovery after being granted drug court — said treatment programs like LETI “increase the odds of success for individuals getting their lives back.”
“I was a person just like everybody else that’s suffering from the disease of addiction: I didn’t know which way was up — I actually became complacent with that being the rest of my life,” he said. “Today, that’s no longer the case.”
Chief Bob O’Neill, Butler Bureau of Police, emphasized that the individuals they encounter with substance use disorder are “very rarely” drug dealers or traffickers.
“They’re people who suffer from mental illness, who suffer from drugs,” he said. “This kind of program allows law enforcement officers to offer a helping hand to these people — maybe keep them out of the system.”
County Commissioner Kim Geyer said the program offers innovative solutions.
“We’re trying to do things that are evidence-based, that are working, that are cost-effective and collaborative,” she said.
Jenereski agreed that treatment in the county has to be a collaborative effort.
“Programs like LETI have been proven successful because they provide law enforcement with another tool to help individuals get the substance use disorder treatment that they need,” she said. “Recovery is possible — it happens every day.”
