Essex County Sheriff Issues Annual Report

DANVERS, MA — Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger has released the 2020 Annual Report for the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, which details the spending, work, success and service of the department to the community.

"Our department provides a critical service to the 800,000 people living in Essex County and this Annual Report provides a window into the work we do each and every day," Sheriff Coppinger said. "COVID made it a challenging year, but I believe the details and data shown in this report demonstrate our commitment to safety, care and custody."

Among the challenges of the year was a COVID outbreak early in the fall that led the department to administer 2,573 tests to inmates and 1,320 tests to employees at the Middleton Jail, the Essex County Pre-release and Re-Engry Center in Lawrence and the Women in Transition Program in Salisbury.

"COVID-19 forced us to look at everything we do and how we do it — and many good things came from it, including the introduction of video visitation for loved ones and attorneys, as well as providing tablets to inmates to better access programming, educational supports, and counseling," Coppinger said. "These additions and changes will have a long-lasting impact on our efforts to help incarcerated individuals get the tools they need to succeed when they leave our facilities."

The report also highlighted the department’s specialized reentry service is its Medication-Assisted Treatment program, which opened in 2019 but realized its first full year in 2020. This program provides those with substance use disorder prescribed medications such as Suboxone, Vivitrol, and Methadone to help them in their recovery. More than 683 inmates participated in the program.

To support inmate reentry efforts, the Department created new and strengthened partnerships with outside agencies to provide a multitude of services focuses on counseling, workforce training, and education. Partnerships include:

• ROCA, which helps at-risk individuals ages 18 to 24 through “relentless outreach.”
• UTEC, which engages younger inmates through programming, transitional coaching, and workforce training.
• Northern Essex Community College, which offers inmates both HiSET and college level courses.
• The Department’s Work Release program, which partners with companies to provide jobs to inmates prior to their release. This program provides participants with hands-on experience and a paycheck to establish a job and savings prior to release. Employers include Kettle Cuisine in Lynn, United Plastics in North Andover, and Whitcraft in Newburyport.
• Volunteers of America (VOA) which runs the Department’s C-Tech training program, offering classes in such fields as fiber optics, copper, and audio visual.
• Essex Technical High School in Danvers which coordinates the Department’s nationally recognized hardscape training program.

The Department also brought in more than $11 million in grant money to support our aggressive efforts in adding reentry services to help inmates be prepared for post-incarceration life.

Among the highlights:

• A $4 million U.S. Department of Labor grant personally presented to Sheriff Coppinger by then-U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. This money will expand our Essex County Re-Entry Vocational Training Center Program to serve 550 inmates.
• A $900,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to help improve reentry services for adults with substance use disorders.
• A $1.2 million U.S. Department of Justice grant to fund our Medication-Assisted Treatment Recovery Project to provide recovery support to 3,000 inmates.

In 2020, the department sent out over 250 work crews to perform such services as painting, landscaping, graffiti cleanup, and more. While benefitting Essex County communities, this program also benefits those who participate by allowing them to give back to the region.

The Community Service program also includes "The Farm" in Lawrence. which provides a bounty of vegetables to help feed the incarcerated population, as well as those in need in Essex County communities. In 2020, the Department donated almost 26,000 pounds of produce.

"All of these pieces that we pulled together in a difficult year led to much success for our department, our incarcerated population, and our communities," Sheriff Coppinger said. "I remain proud and committed to the people of Essex County and feel privileged each and every day to be able to come to work alongside the hard-working and dedicated men and women of our department."

For more information or to read the Annual Report, please click here.