The Drug Market Intervention strategy has been utilized successfully in Hempstead, Nassau County, where drug arrests in the most active market in the county dropped from around 150 a year to two year-to-date in 2009. Hempstead launched DMI under National Network advisement in October 2007 in partnership with Nassau County District Attorney's office, community members, and law enforcement.
Risco Mention-Lewis, Deputy Police Commissioner in the Suffolk County Police Department, opens up about her work with formerly incarcerated individuals in the town of Wyandanch, in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in order to "reset the moral standard," as she puts it. She's joined by Micah Danney, freelance journalist, who wrote about her story for the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. The movement is called COTA, the Council of Thought and Action, and was started by Mention-Lewis. She leads weekly meetings, comprised mostly of men who have been incarcerated, where they just talk about their lives, aiming to change minds, and ultimately lower recidivism rates.
Nassau County successfully replicated the drug market intervention strategy in a Hempstead neighborhood that previously had been home to more arrests, shootings, and deaths than just about anywhere else in the state of New York. Watch the summary report below on how police and community joined forces to eliminate drug-related crime or click on the title for the full-length program.
Deputy Commissioner Risco Mention-Lewis of the Suffolk County Police Department was instrumental in implementing DMI on Long Island. She has spearheaded the community effort to develop a peer support and mentoring group, the Council of Thought and Action (COTA). She has been working to bring COTA to other parts of Suffolk County, the state of New York and the nation.
The National Network has recently featured the COTA model in planning new support and outreach structures for the high-risk individuals our cities work with.
