Skip to Content List

  • Skip to primary content
  • Skip to footer content

Site Navigation Lists

  • Fellowship Application
  • Grantmaking Process
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • About
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Impact Reports
    • Impact Photo Series
  • Programs and Impact
    • Our Programs and Impact
    • Education and Youth Development
    • Criminal and Juvenile Justice
    • Addiction and Health Equity
    • Community Fellowships
  • Grantees and Fellows
    • Grantee Database
    • Grantmaking Process
    • Community Fellows
    • How to Apply
  • News and Reports
    • Baltimore Justice Report
    • Newsletters
    • Reports
    • Impact Reports
    • Blueprint for Baltimore
    • OSI in the News
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • 20th Anniversary Speaker Series
    • Talking About Race Series
    • Talking About Addiction Series
  • Privacy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Community Guidelines
  • Terms & Conditions
Open Society Institute – Baltimore

Open Society Institute – Baltimore

Open Society Institute (OSI) – Baltimore : Audacious Thinking For Lasting Change

  • Fellowship Application
  • Grantmaking Process
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • EN
    • EN
    • ES
  • About
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Impact Reports
    • Impact Photo Series
  • Programs and Impact
    • Our Programs and Impact
    • Education and Youth Development
    • Criminal and Juvenile Justice
    • Addiction and Health Equity
    • Community Fellowships
  • Grantees and Fellows
    • Grantee Database
    • Grantmaking Process
    • Community Fellows
    • How to Apply
  • News and Reports
    • Baltimore Justice Report
    • Newsletters
    • Reports
    • Impact Reports
    • Blueprint for Baltimore
    • OSI in the News
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • 20th Anniversary Speaker Series
    • Talking About Race Series
    • Talking About Addiction Series
Baltimore aims to expand LEAD program

Featured in
Baltimore Justice Report

Next Article
As ICE steps up raids, Safe City Baltimore begins dispersing grants

Baltimore Justice Report

Baltimore aims to expand LEAD program

Sunday, October 01, 2017

Content Social Share Links

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter

In a Baltimore Sun op-ed on Tuesday, Andrew Vetter, director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, said the city intends to expand the OSI-sponsored Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which diverts drug users into treatment instead of the criminal justice system.

“We are seeking to expand existing programs like Safe Streets and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion and to adopt innovative approaches proven effective in other cities,” he wrote.

Also last week, the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI)’s Baltimore chapter recognized Baltimore Police Lieutenant Steve Olsen, a LEAD supervisor who lost his brother to the disease of addiction. The Sun interviewed Olson when LEAD launched:

Lt. Steve Olson, who will help supervise the program, said he is passionately committed to its success. Just over 10 months ago, Olson said he discovered his brother was addicted to heroin. That brother has since died, he said.

Having been a cop for 18 years, Olson said he “figured I had the resources at my fingertips” and would be able to get his brother help, but instead found “a lot of the doors that looked open were shut. A lot of the doors that were shut were open and I didn’t know it. I couldn’t help my own little brother.”

Olson now sees his involvement in the LEAD program as a calling.

“If I couldn’t save my own brother, I’d like to save yours,” he said. “I’d like to save your mother and your father, your brother and your sister.”

Related Content

The Sun’s Justin George on the underpinnings of crime

Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin George is interviewed in this Q and A from the Trace. George recognizes that the issues o…

Read More

Post navigation

Previous Article Previous Paul Butler previews Talking About Race on WYPR
Next Article Next Article As ICE steps up raids, Safe City Baltimore begins dispersing grants
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube

Subscribe to our mailing list

OSI Logo

Open Society Institute-Baltimore
Bold Thinking, Strategic Action, Justice for All.

Quick donate

© 2023 Open Society Institute-Baltimore
  • Privacy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Community Guidelines
  • Terms & Conditions
Skip to top of page