Parsippany Police Join Drug Addiction and Recovery Initiative

PARSIPPANY, NJ — The Parsippany Police Department will be the 25th agency in Morris County to participate in the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI), according to the Morris County Sheriff's Office.

The PAARI program was developed to provide individuals with substance abuse disorders with a safe environment in which to seek treatment for their addiction at a local police department.

Individuals seeking treatment who initiate the process themselves by going to police headquarters must surrender any drugs or paraphernalia and will not be criminally charged with possessing contraband under PAARI, according to the Morris County Sheriff's Office.

Since participation in the program is voluntary, the individual may choose not to seek further assistance.

Anyone who walks into the Parsippany police station and asks for help with a substance use disorder will now be screened for PAARI, which entails both law enforcement and an Acenda Integrated Health certified Peer Recovery Specialist assisting in the acquisition of treatment and recovery services.

The Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department is located at 3339 US-46, Parsippany-Troy Hills.

The Morris County Sheriff's Office was the first law enforcement agency in Morris County to launch PAARI, which draws municipal police departments and non-profit agencies into a partnership to help individuals fight addiction.

The Hope One mobile recovery access vehicle is another initiative aimed at combating addiction in Parsippany and surrounding Morris County towns.

The van travels throughout Morris County twice a week, providing services to those in need. The vehicle is staffed by a Sheriff's officer, a licensed clinician and a certified peer recovery specialist who understands the needs of those suffering from addiction.

In areas with a high number of overdoses, homeless people, and hand-to-hand drug transactions, the Hope One team provides free Narcan training and kits, as well as substance abuse and mental health counseling and transportation to detox and rehab facilities.

Since its inception, the Hope One team has visited over 900 locations and made over 30,000 contacts in the community. Hope One has provided free Narcan kits to over 5,800 family members and friends of those struggling with substance use disorders.

“Hope One works because we go out into the community, we publish where we are going and we have a plains clothes sheriff’s officer, we have a mental health clinician and we have a certified peer recovery specialist who go out into the community and talk to people where they are,” Sheriff Gannon said.