Naugatuck Police Introduce PAARI to Address Opioid Crisis

Naugatuck, CT - The Naugatuck Police Department rolled out an initiative designed to attack the opioid crisis in the borough at a press conference held on Sept. 3, 2019. The unique program that started on Sept. 1 is called the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative or PAARI.

PAARI is a partnership between community substance abuse treatment agencies and the Naugatuck Police Department and that highlights department’s latest efforts on tackling the frightening opioid crisis in Naugatuck. The NPD reported that there have been eight confirmed overdoses in the borough and 22 NARCAN® administrations.

The new initiative will employ a three prong approach to combat the opioid crisis locally. The first is an education element, which will include bringing the DARE program back into the borough schools, assigning a resource officer at City Hill Middle School and additional NARCAN® training. The second part of the program will be stepping up enforcement of curbing distribution of the drug.

The most innovative portion of the PAARI program involves the assistance of a recovery coach from one of three organizations that have partnered with the police department to help those suffering from addiction. The three partners that will provide recovery coaches are Connecticut Counseling Services, Wellmore and MCCA.

In a time of need, a recovery coach will meet with those who have overdosed, as well as household members of the victim, and offer services. The police department shared that “It is our hope that this program, working in conjunction with our other efforts such as education and enforcement will curb the number of overdoses in our community.”

Chief of Police Steven Hunt wanted to come up with an initiative to address the opioid epidemic as soon as he began leading the NPD six months ago. He mentioned consulting with Superintendent of Schools Sharon Locke during the planning stages, and thanked Mayor Pete Hess, Rep. Rosa Rebimbas and Sen. George Logan for their support.

In his remarks,Sen. George Loganstressed the importance of the partnerships that are integral to PAARI and lauded the many different ways in the program to address the rise in opioid addictions.

The NPD expressed their thanks to those from the community who attended and offered their support in our latest initiative.

Press Conference via Youtube:

WTNH video