Contact: Beth Stone
(508) 584-8120
BROCKTON — Plymouth County Outreach (PCO), the county-wide effort to reach overdose victims and their families and get them the support and services they need in the critical hours after an incident, has received the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) national community policing award.
In an award ceremony held last night, the IACP presented their Leadership in Community Policing Award to PCO at the 2018 IACP Annual Conference and Exposition held in Orlando, Florida. IACP honors law enforcement agencies and officers that exhibit leadership, excellence, and professionalism through its annual Leadership Awards Program.
PCO emerged out of the Public Safety Subcommittee of the Plymouth County Drug Abuse Task Force, formed in 2015 by Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz and Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald. PCO is led by East Bridgewater Police Chief Scott Allen and Plymouth Police Chief Michael Botieri, and is an opioid prevention and recovery coalition made up of 27 municipal police departments in Plymouth County, along with the Bridgewater State University Police. PCO received this award for its continued, collaborative efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.
“Chiefs Allen and Botieri are to be commended for their leadership on PCO,” DA Cruz said. “We are doing innovative work here in Plymouth County that is steadily gaining interest and being recognized around the state and the nation. The Plymouth County Drug Abuse Task Force and PCO are efforts that I am proud to be part of, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate until we get well out in front of this addiction issue.”
Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald said, “I am extremely proud of this recognition and the forward thinking of our Police Chiefs who made Plymouth County Outreach a nationally recognized initiative. We have work ahead of us but the strides being made to increase awareness on support services for people struggling with Substance Use Disorder is critical and saving lives.”
PCO is a collaborative of police departments throughout Plymouth County led by the following chiefs: Abington Chief David Majenski, Bridgewater Chief Christopher Delmonte, Bridgewater State University Chief David Tillinghast, Brockton Chief John Crowley, Brockton Police Lt. Richard Linehan, Carver Chief Marc Duphily, Duxbury Chief Matthew Clancy, East Bridgewater Chief Scott Allen, Halifax Chief Ted Broderick, Hanover Chief Walter Sweeney, Hanson Chief Michael Miksch, Hingham Chief Glenn Olsson, Hull Chief John Dunn, Kingston Chief Maurice Splaine, Lakeville Chief Frank Alvihiera, Marion Chief John Garcia, Marshfield Chief Phillip Tavares, Mattapoisett Chief Mary Lyons, Middleboro Chief Joseph Perkins, Norwell Chief Ted Ross, Pembroke Chief Richard Wall, Plymouth Chief Michael Botieri, Plympton Chief Patrick Dillon, Rochester Chief Robert Small, Rockland Chief John Llewellyn, Scituate Chief Michael Stewart, Wareham Chief John Walcek, West Bridgewater Chief Victor Flaherty and Whitman Chief Scott D. Benton.
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October 19, 2018