Media Advisory
Contact: Evan Serpick
410.234.1091
OSI-Baltimore hosts a conversation with a Massachusetts police chief and a former Baltimore City police officer about new law enforcement approaches to addiction
BALTIMORE – On December 7, Open Society Institute – Baltimore will host a “Talking About Addiction” event with leaders within the law enforcement community who are looking for alternatives to traditional approaches to addiction.
Speakers include Leonard Campanello (pictured, left), police chief of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is, as the Washington Post put it, “The ‘only town’ in America where cops grant amnesty to drug addicts seeking help,” and Neill Franklin (pictured, right), who worked in law enforcement for 33 years, with both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department, and is now executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
“We want to discuss changing the paradigm of arresting people who have an underlying addiction and to think about ways to reduce the stigma associated with addiction so there is an environment supportive to treatment,” says Scott Nolen, director of OSI-Baltimore’s Drug Addiction Treatment program, who will moderate the discussion.
The event will be held at the 2640 Space (St. John’s Church) at 2640 St. Paul Street, from 7 to 9 p.m.
About OSI-Baltimore
As the only field office for the Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs, Open Society Institute-Baltimore focuses on the root causes of three intertwined problems in our city and state: drug addiction, an overreliance on incarceration and obstacles that keep youth from succeeding both inside and outside the classroom. We also support a growing corps of social entrepreneurs committed to underserved populations in Baltimore. Before we make a single grant, we analyze the root causes of a problem and examine research and innovative practices aimed at tackling the problem. Because we aim for lasting, sustainable solutions, we engage public and private partners from the start. It is only then, with a clear picture of the problem, that we begin to focus our approach and diligently craft a road map for change. Visit us on our website: http://www.osibaltimore.org/
