The following is a release by the Gloucester Township Police Department:
The Gloucester Township Police Department is proud to announce the successes of Project SAVE. Project SAVE has reported that 478 municipal referrals to our SAVE addiction counselor was made between January 2019 and May 2020.
Of those referrals, 383 came from our Gloucester Township Police Officers interacting with our community members seeking help from addiction. Every officer has pocket referral cards that they carry with them at all times.
Other referrals come from our Municipal Court Staff. This means 383 people received addiction treatment services because of the community policing efforts of our Gloucester Township Police Officers.
Gloucester Township created Project SAVE in 2014 to help people overcome their addictions with treatment, instead of continuing through the revolving door of the arrest and addiction. Project SAVE was designed to intervene in the early cycle of addiction and uses certified Alcohol and Drug counselors to help people who are seeking treatment for addiction-related illnesses, have overdosed, or for those who have committed minor drug-related offenses, theft offenses, or shoplifting.
Many drug offenders are repeat offenders and support their addictions by shoplifting, or by committing burglaries and thefts. Without programs like Project SAVE, only 15 percent of drug offenders get professional help and 77 percent will be arrested again. Project SAVE’s mission is to intervene to break this cycle, and to treat addiction as a disease. The goal of Project SAVE is to reduce crime through treatment and intervention. Project SAVE has been successful in achieving these goals and making our community even safer.
The SAVE Program is a key program in the Gloucester Township Police Department strategy of addressing the problems of our community by intervention. If you or a family member is suffering from the scourge of addiction call 856-302-7051. To learn more about Project SAVE go to the Gloucester Township Police website at https://gtpolice.com/programs/juvenile-family-services/project-save/.
