Lemont Police Launch Program for Drug Addicts Seeking Help

LEMONT, IL — Lemont residents seeking help with heroin and other drug addiction problems can soon find it at the Lemont Police Department.

The department on Feb. 1 will launch Safe Passage, a program in which law enforcement will help local addicts who are looking to get clean find treatment.

"Any Lemont resident who enters the department and asks for help with addiction, will be placed for treatment," Police Chief Marc Maton said Monday. "You will not be arrested, charged with a crime, or jailed. All you have to do is come to the station and ask for help."

The program is part of a collaboration with the Lemont and Mokena police departments. Each locality will work with A Man in Recovery Foundation to place addicts who voluntarily walk into police headquarters during regular hours in treatment centers suitable for their recovery. The addicts must be residents of the community the department services. The found has assisted the participating departments in finding and training eight local volunteers who will guide addicts through withdrawal and with immediate medical needs under the supervision of treatment specialists from the foundation.

Those specialists will then help funnel the addicts to the proper recovery program.