DA: Reform takes imagination and collaboration

Aug. 18—SALEM — To Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, criminal justice reform isn't just a goal; it's a decade-long practice in response to the opioid crisis.

The North Shore Chamber of Commerce hosted Blodgett at a breakfast forum Thursday morning to discuss his work addressing the opioid crisis. The event, held at the Hawthorne Hotel, was attended by regional business leaders as well as police chiefs from 11 Essex County cities and towns.

Blodgett, a Peabody native who has served five terms since first being elected in 2002, used the platform to shine a light on the Essex County Drug Diversion Program, which he helped launch in 2007 to lead young adult non-violent drug offenders down the path of recovery rather than incarceration.

"I spend as much time trying to think of ways to keep people out of jail as I do putting people in jail," Blodgett said. "That takes not so much a lot of imagination — it takes a lot of collaboration."

The program deals mainly with people charged with low-level drug offenses, who once they're arrested are offered entry into a rehabilitation program instead of court. To date, more than 1,200 people have "successfully completed drug diversion in lieu of prosecution," Blodgett said.

"That's something I'm proud of," he said, "but it isn't enough. We know that — it isn't enough."

Blodgett also discussed the Breed All Stars Program, an effort that focuses on children living with family who are battling substance abuse disorders. The program has its origins in Breed Middle School in Lynn.

"We signed a memorandum of understanding in which we identified those kids who came from homes where one or both parents suffered from substance abuse disorders," Blodgett said. "We put together an after-school program — two days a week, from 2 to 6 — and the hook was that we'd give these kids food.

"Think about that," Blodgett continued. "We enticed them to come because we offered food to them, a snack."

The snacks were paired with after-school counseling services, peer support programs and more. It wasn't advertised or talked about publicly. The first year saw 61 kids enter the program; 95% of them later graduated high school, according to Blodgett.

"It didn't cost much money, but it has a commitment of helping kids you don't want to see going through the criminal justice system," Blodgett said. "These are the things that the modern prosecutor does that you aren't going to hear about — and that's OK. That's fine. That's not why we do it."

Later, he was asked by Karen Andreas, president of the North Shore Chamber and emcee of the event, to weigh in on national calls to defund police departments, and whether he's seen that call on the North Shore, to which he replied: "Karen pulled the pin on the grenade."

"I hear people talk about how we have to end mass incarceration in Massachusetts," Blodgett said. "Massachusetts has the lowest prison population. We're the third most densely populated area in terms of geographic boundaries, and we have — again — the lowest prison population in the country."

Blodgett cited recent numbers in the state prison system, showing it dropped by half over the past 19 years of his career. On Aug. 1, the state reported 6,552 men and women make up the population.

"When I became DA, we had 11,000 people-plus in the state prison system," Blodgett said, contrasting that with the current number. "A quarter of those (6,522) people are in jail for first-degree murder. I think it speaks to how the police, the prosecutors are really focusing on those people who are really dangerous."

But Blodgett said he could understand pressure to replace officers with unarmed social workers, as "there are times that makes a lot of sense."

"But as you probably are aware, one of the most dangerous calls a police officer can get is a domestic violence call, because he or she doesn't know what they're walking into," he said. "They've gotta go into that place, because somebody could get hurt, and they don't have time to wait for a social worker to show up."

Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.

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