Department Receives Community Policing Grant from NJ Attorney General
Chief M Richards
Chief Michael Richards is pleased to announce that the Newton Police Department has been selected as a recipient of a grant award of $10,000 from the Detective Matthew L. Tarentino Community Policing Grant Program. 28 Police Departments were selected from 138 applicants across New Jersey. See news release from the NJ Attorney General’s Office - http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases17/pr20170801a.html
The Newton Police Department will utilize this funding to implement the #NotEvenOnce opiate awareness program for the junior and senior classes at Newton High School, which serves students from three communities – the Town of Newton, Green Township and Andover Township.
The #NotEvenOnce program is a new interactive high school opiate awareness program that was recently developed by the Manchester Police Department (Ocean County, NJ). From their website, “Instructed by police officers, this interactive course is a collaborative effort between law enforcement and educators with the goal of informing students about the dangers of opiates before they leave for college or enter the work force.” The program meets all of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for health classes.
Due to heroin being highly addictive, it often only takes one time for someone to begin a battle with heroin or opiate addiction. Often the addiction leads to other significant health issues and sometimes death. Addiction is also commonly associated with increased criminal activity.
Two Newton Police Officers, DSG. Steve VanNieuwland and Det. Thomas Tosti, were recently trained in the #NotEvenOnce program. During their training, they learned how to best educate students about the devastating addictiveness of opiate use and where it could lead for them. The program will also provide students with the tools to make better decisions when dealing with opiate use and peer pressure.
The #NotEvenOnce prevention education program is consistent with and helps promote the mission of the Sussex County C.L.E.A.R. program. As such, information about the CLEAR program will be reviewed and there are plans to have a CLEAR Recovery Coach be a guest speaker during part of the #NotEvenOnce lesson plan.
Sussex County C.L.E.A.R. Program Mission Statement
It is well-established that drug use and addiction is a major problem that impacts all of us on multiple levels; individuals, families and communities bear the many ill-effects that it has on our safety, health and the economy. The alarming reality of the heroin/opiate epidemic, in particular, has created an urgent need to work together to reverse these trends.
We also recognize that for any anti-drug program to be effective, strong enforcement must be supported by an effort to reduce the demand for illegal substances and this is best accomplished through continued prevention education along with improved access to treatment and recovery support.
The mission of the Sussex County C.L.E.A.R. program is to form a collaborative network of professionals in our community who will facilitate medical intervention, improved access to treatment and recovery support for those struggling with drug addiction who seek assistance, without fear of arrest or prosecution, in order to make a positive difference in the quality of life for individuals, families and our entire community.
The #NotEvenOnce program will work together with the C.L.E.A.R. Program and the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) program taught to middle school students. We are looking forward to working with school officials with this program and we aim to give students the best chance to avoid the pitfalls of drug addiction so they can lead healthy, successful lives, contributing to the overall quality of life in our community.
http://manchesterpolicenj.com/not-even-once/
http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases17/pr20170801a.html