Diversion program for drug offenses spreads after solutions story

In Alamosa, Colorado, law enforcement is reducing the jail population and issuing fewer arrest warrants by referring more people to treatment, recognizing that drug abuse is at the root of some criminal behavior. After the Las Vegas Optic in New Mexico wrote about that effort, called LEAD for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, officials in the city of Las Vegas, as well as in San Miguel County, New Mexico, are working to put it in place. San Miguel County also has purchased a building it plans to turn into a treatment facility. LEAD is a nationwide program that first launched in Seattle in 2011.