The Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office will formally kick off its LEAD—Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion—an effort to get help instead of jail time for qualifying low-level offenders—at a signing event with state and federal officials in Schoharie Monday.
Expected to be on hand for the 10am ceremony are Congressman Antonio Delgado, elected in November, and United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who’s just launched a run for President.
In August, Sheriff’s Investigator Bruce Baker had no trouble getting supervisors to sign on for LEAD, which even he called a “left turn” from the traditional way police deal with crime.
Under LEAD, the Sheriff’s Office and agencies including Social Services, Mental Health, the District Attorney, Probation, Health, and Legal Defense will partner with Catholic Charities, which is already running the program in Albany, to help qualifying offenders connect with agencies that can address their bigger problems.
Among those problems: Poverty, homelessness, drug abuse and addiction—things 30 days in jail can’t fix.
Friday, Investigator Baker told supervisors that five deputies have already taken the LEAD training and are ready to go.
“The next step is to start helping people,” he said, adding that “Catholic Charities has really taken the lead.”
To qualify for LEAD:
• Crimes need to be low-level, non-violent crimes and the individual being considered for LEAD can’t have a history of felonies or violent crime.
• If there’s a victim, they have to sign off on crime.
• The individual must also sign an agreement and then has 30 days to connect with services.
Schoharie County’s will be the first rural LEAD; the program has a 60 percent non-recidivism rate, Investigator Baker said, compared with 10 percent non-recidivism for those who go to jail.
Monday’s signing on the memorandum of understanding for LEAD will take place in the supervisors’ room on the third floor of the County Office Building in Schoharie.