Grapevine police use compassionate approach for drug addicts

When Suzanne Seward’s daughter Cassidy died of a heroin overdose, she vowed that the teenager’s death would not be just another drug-related casualty.

“She was a lively little girl who wanted to be a marine biologist,” Seward said from her Grapevine home.

To honor her daughter and to help others, she formed Love, Cassidy, a nonprofit foundation advocating for a drug-free community.

One facet is educating the public about how options such as recovery programs are preferable to incarceration.

“I never agreed with people getting thrown into jail,” Seward said. “You’re throwing them into a system where they’re not going to get the help they need.”

The Grapevine Police Department shares her conviction, as evidenced by recent efforts to connect with a national program that promotes treatment for drug addiction over jail time.

Grapevine officials will soon begin participating in the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative, or PAARI, a program that encourages addicts to seek help from police without fear of punitive repercussions.

Police Chief Eddie Salame said the city of about 50,000 wanted an out-of-the-box way to battle drug addiction.

“Opiates is a big problem,” Salame said, adding that “black tar [heroin] is what’s prevalent in the area.”

The Gloucester, Mass.-based PAARI program was created to support the local police initiative and to help other police departments implement similar programs.

“For years the Police Department has been been on the front lines of battling the war on drugs,” Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello said. “It was never meant to be a war on addicted people.”

He said they realized that it wasn’t enough to go after the drug suppliers but also needed “to treat this disease for what it is.”

The initiative’s mission is to “foster a dialogue around the unique opportunity for police departments to take direct action against the disease of drug addiction in their communities.”

PAARI is made up of private citizens, philanthropists, business owners, law enforcement leaders and members of the academic community who share the organization’s mission.

PAARI allows drug addicts to walk into a police station and hand over drugs and needles and other paraphernalia and be taken to a treatment facility instead of being charged with a crime and jailed.

The Gloucester chief said the program has been implemented “by over 100 cities and towns and about 200 treatment centers.”

Salame said his department is on board with the initiative, which was discussed at a recent meet-and-greet community breakfast for addiction treatment providers in Grapevine with Kansas-based CEO Pat George of Valley Hope Association.

“Chief Salame is working on getting PAARI approved soon,” said Sgt. Robert Eberling, a police spokesman. “He is hopeful it will happen soon.”

At the breakfast, Salame spoke of their investigation of the 2013 drug-related deaths of two young men, ages 17 and 18, and the 2012 deaths of a 34-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman. The woman was Cassidy Seward, though he did not mention her by name.

“We have to quit incarcerating sick people,” Salame told the crowd.

George, president of Valley Hope Association, which has 16 treatment centers in seven states including the Grapevine location, said he is wholly supportive of plans underway by Grapevine police.

“Addiction knows no limits,” George said from his Norton, Kan., headquarters, adding that the issue can benefit from many groups and people, including police and fire agencies, chambers of commerce, community leaders, churches and local and national representatives.

“Unfortunately, incarceration hasn’t really worked in the country,” he said. “We want to offer this option.”

He met with Salame at the breakfast his group hosted and said of the police chief, “I could feel his caring.”

Seward, whose daughter died from a combination of heroin and methamphetamine, said the PAARI program is “phenomenal” and “getting people into rehab or help before prison is huge.”

She said Cassidy was “working her way toward recovery and was scheduled to enter a treatment facility” the week after her Aug. 28, 2012, death.

She is thankful to have found an enthusiastic response within the community.

For example, Painting with a Twist in Grapevine, an art studio with national ties, participated in a fundraiser for Love, Cassidy this month.

Owner Colleen Coppenger said the studio hosted a painting party with the proceeds benefiting the foundation. The featured painting was a hummingbird, picked by Seward.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to them,” Coppenger said, adding that her studio sponsors one charity event per month. “I love giving back.”

Seward reaches out to the community through her nonprofit, which includes the I’m Strong teen program and the Parent Connection support group.

Seward, whose loss was shared by Cassidy’s sister and brother, said a tenet of her message is that “addiction is across the board” and “it can happen to anyone.”

“I want to get these kids and parents involved in a group setting,” Seward said. “I want to help them find answers and not feel so alone.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Grapevine police use compassionate approach for drug addicts."