Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Schenectady Police Department this week launched the Schenectady Cares Program, an alternative approach to helping people battling drug addiction modeled after the program initiated in Chatham by Police Chief Peter Volkmann. The program uses trained officers to help addicts find beds at treatment centers. No one seeking help is turned away or jailed, and walk-ins are welcome. The Schenectady program was modeled after the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative model and the three-year-old Chatham Cares 4U program. In Chatham, recovering addicts are able to walk in to the police station on Main Street for screening. Any drugs or drug paraphernalia is marked for destruction, no questions asked. Recovering addicts are not charged with possession. Working in collaboration with New Choices Recover Center or Catholic Charities, the person is assessed and moved on to the first steps of treatment. Chatham Cares 4U has helped 225 people all find treatment since it began in 2016. “We know this program may not save the world, but it may save someone,” the Schenectady Police Department said in a statement. “It may save someone you know, or someone we know and to that person, we may have saved their world. It makes it worth it.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.