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The pilot program, known as LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion), is funded by a $500,000 federal Justice Department grant and will be implemented in Cincinnati Police District 1, which includes Mt. Adams, Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton, Queensgate and the West End.
If successful, it could be expanded elsewhere in the county.
LEAD was created in Seattle. It gives police officers discretion and tools to divert low-level, non-violent offenders into treatment rather than sending them to jail, or - given jail overcrowding issues - booking and releasing them to offend again.
Heroin Coalition Commander Lt. Tom Fallon says the program empowers officers to address the underlying problems that often prompt whatever offense that led to the police interaction.