Law enforcement and elected officials are celebrating the 300th diversion by the city of Albany’s Law Enforcement-Assisted Diversion program.
Officials gathered Tuesday hailed the LEAD program as having “an outsized impact” on improving public safety and community relations with police. City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, a Democrat, says harm-reduction works, crediting LEAD with shifting the norm.
“When LEAD was launched in the city of Albany in 2016, we were among the first cities in the country to commit to helping low level offenders struggling with addiction, poverty, homelessness, and mental health challenges find the services they need, rather than arresting them," said Applyrs.
109th district state Assemblymember Pat Fahy, also a Democrat, says the LEAD program has proven itself over time.
“Since its inception in Albany, it was only the second pilot in this country," Fahy said. "Albany LEAD, again, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion is work to divert non-violent individuals from low level charges that may be a result of substance abuse, homelessness, poverty and other related, often small, or what are often referred to as petty crimes or, or crimes of poverty again, which is often homelessness and more. Acting as a community based alternative to the traditional justice system and prosecution, Albany LEAD connects individuals with a dedicated case manager, to talk about diverting from the criminal justice system and connecting with the services that are needed. Again, this partnership has been the Albany County Exec’s office, Albany County District Attorney, the mayor's office, the Department of Mental Health, the Center for Law and Justice, the Albany County Public Defender, the alternative public defender, and numerous members of law enforcement.”
Democratic Albany County District Attorney David Soares tipped his hat to city police as he joined the others in celebrating LEAD's receiving $300,000 in funding in the state budget.
“What is happening here means so much to people, especially now at a time when we see such escalation and violence in our communities, violence at a level that we've never experienced before," said Soares. "It is wonderful to see that there's no disruption with the ongoing commitment to diverting people. It would be easy for a police department, so to speak to, to respond to the crises that are emerging on our streets with a more hard handed approach. And so I wanted to say thank you today, especially to Chief Eric Hawkins, for staying vigilant, for staying committed to this LEAD effort, and creating a culture within that department that continues to use alternatives to incarceration as a viable response to the issues that are occurring on our streets."
Albany LEAD marked its 300th diversion case last week. The program has served as a model for programs like it in municipalities across the state.
