Berea and Olmsted Township Police Launching Addiction Recovery Program

BEREA, OH - Berea and Olmsted Township police will officially launch their Safe Passages program this weekend at the Cuyahoga County Rally Against Heroin. The program is designed to allow law enforcement agencies to facilitate treatment for people suffering from addiction to heroin and opioids.

Berea Police Chief Joe Grecol and Olmsted Township Police Chief Matthew Vanyo recently announced that they have partnered with the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) to begin their program.

Since the beginning of the year, Cuyahoga County has lost 250 residents due to drug overdose deaths and is on track to lose 500 or more to overdoses by the end of 2016.

The Cuyahoga County Rally Against Heroin will be held at Coe Lake, 11 Berea Commons, from 2 to 7 p.m.

Major hospital systems, treatment centers from the Northeast Ohio area and support groups will be in attendance to join police and advocates to provide information about their services.

The rally will be used as a fundraiser for Airfare4Addicts, a GoFundMe page used to assist indigent program participants with travel expenses. T-shirts and wristbands will be available for purchase, as well as a raffle of merchandise provided by the Cleveland Browns. There will be a stunt motorcycle performance by Ride4Life, live music provided by my Manic Episode, Boca Loca Burrito food truck and a series of guest speakers, including PAARI Executive Director Allie Hunter McDade and Rebecca Wolfe, Clinical Co-Responder for the Arlington, Mass. police department.

The event is free and open to the public.

Image from Google Earth