Drug use is both habit-forming and illegal, putting people who cannot stop using drugs in the precarious position of being criminalized for having an addiction. For decades, addicts have been prosecuted for nonviolent drug possession crimes, many of whom have served jail time and prison sentences for being addicted to an illegal substance.

Unfortunately, many of those individuals incarcerated for drug possession are exposed to other criminal activities while in jail and prison. Many adopt criminal proclivities and face unnecessary hardship due to their prison sentence, making them more likely to commit additional crimes upon release. That phenomenon has led two U.S. counties, one in Washington State and the other in Pennsylvania, to adopt alternative-to-incarceration programs for nonviolent drug offenders, programs that seek to help drug users get better, not punish them.

The LEAD Program in King County Stands as a Successful Example of Crime Prevention

Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in King County, Washington (the home of Seattle, the state’s largest city) is a program that provides community-based care for people who commit law violations related to behavioral health issues or extreme poverty. The program utilizes the help of law enforcement officers to intervene in peoples’ lawbreaking but to direct them to a LEAD program rather than jail.¹

Launched in October 2011, LEAD was one of the first programs that utilized law enforcement departments to help drug possession offenders treat their addiction and get sober. Since its inception, LEAD has expanded its services to provide mental health care, legal system support, financial counseling, and referrals into shelter and permanent housing for drug offenders and other nonviolent offenders. According to the program’s mandate, anyone who commits law violations related to behavioral health challenges and/or income instability is eligible for participation in LEAD.

In the years of its operation in King County, numerous independent bodies have analyzed LEAD’s programming results. The findings from each assessment were that LEAD was less expensive than traditional arrest-and-charge systems, and it reduced recidivism. The result? Several counties and cities across the U.S. have begun implementing similar programs (mostly in urban areas, but some in rural conservative districts, as in the case of York County, PA, discussed below).

The program has much to show for its efforts, but it primarily hangs its hat on the fact that LEAD participants have been more likely to obtain housing, employment, and legitimate income. The organization reported that people directed into and through LEAD were 60% less likely than people in a control group to be arrested within the first six months of their evaluation. (Peer-reviewed examinations of LEAD’s efficacy, statistics, and broader results can be found on the organization’s website).²

Several Alternatives to Incarceration in York County Result in Decreased Incarceration Figures and Overdose Deaths

While many states have seen crime rates, incarceration, and recidivism rise over the years, Pennsylvania has, in most years, exhibited an opposite trend. Further, York County, located in the southeastern region of the state along the Maryland border, has led the state in reducing incarceration figures and crime rates.³

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Beginning in 2018, District Attorney David Sunday, Jr. set forth the implementation of a slate of criminal justice reforms, including compassionate crime prevention strategies and an expansion of addiction recovery initiatives. The results were almost immediately apparent as the county posted a consistent decline in crime rates and drug overdose deaths (even as such rates across the state and country increased from 2020 to 2021).

York County’s crime figures compare to the state of Pennsylvania’s as follows:

• 2018: York County, 8,905 crimes; Pennsylvania, 313,713 crimes.
• 2019: York County, 8,198 crimes (down 8% from 2018); Pennsylvania, 302,971 (down 3% from 2018).
• 2020: York County, 7,022 crimes (down 14% from 2019); Pennsylvania, 268,946 (down 11% from 2019).
• 2021: York County, 6,234 crimes (down 11% from 2020); Pennsylvania, 273,440 (up 2% from 2020).

York County credits the steady decline in crime to the implementation of initiatives that established juvenile and veterans treatment courts, that innovated uses of probation to reduce recidivism and increase rehabilitation for offenders, and that expanded the use of pre-trial diversion and mental health programming for those who were not identified as threats to public safety.

According to reports, such programs reduced the overall tax bill on offenders by saving money on incarceration while at the same time increasing overall public safety. When examined over time, the programs led to a 30% drop in crime, a 25% drop in adult probation caseloads, a 30% drop in new criminal cases filed, a 45% decline in prison admissions, and a 38% drop in the average daily prison population in the county.

Drug Users Need Solutions, not Punishment

The War on Drugs was launched in the early-1970s. Yet despite increasingly heavy-handed criminalization of drug crimes during that period and since, Americans have continued to use drugs at higher rates than in previous years. To buck this increasingly unpopular trend of heavy-handed incarceration, some regions of the U.S., like King County and York County, have decided to take a different route in addressing nonviolent drug crime. Such counties have shown success in offering treatment resources, counseling, housing, and other methods for helping drug users resolve the underlying issues that led them to use drugs in the first place.

When such programs are implemented, individuals who go through them experience rehabilitation, leading to county-wide declines in recidivism, crime, and criminal justice spending.

Sources:

1. LEAD. “Let Everyone Advance with Dignity.” Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, 2023. leadkingcounty.org
2. LEAD. “National Support Bureau.” Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, 2023. leadkingcounty.org
3. NCJ. “York County Criminal Diversion Programs are Proving Successful.” Nolan Center for Justice, 2023. conservativejusticereform.org