Karrie Allen in The Chatham Courier reports that the Chatham Police Department has started the Chatham Cares 4 U Outreach Initiative Program to deal with local drug addiction. Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann spoke about the program at the June 29 Nar-Anon Family Group meeting at Christ our Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Chatham. “The stigma associated with heroin and opiate addiction is over,” the chief said in a department press release. “Police officers are here to help you, not judge you.” The program is modeled after the new Gloucester ANGEL Initiative, and is the first in Columbia County to partner with the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative. Under the program, anyone can come to the Chatham Police station in the Village Hall and request help with an addiction to opiates and will be immediately screened into the program. "If that person has drugs or drug paraphernalia on them, an officer will seize and mark it for destruction, no questions asked, and the participant will not be charged," the story says. Read the full story in The Chatham Courier.