Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says it takes a varied approach to address the opioid crisis and prevent overdose deaths.

One way is suing drug companies for their role. Another is pursuing dealers and doctors who overprescribe opioids.

The third way is an initiative to substitute addiction treatment services for the criminal justice system. On Thursday, Shapiro, who announced a campaign for governor last month, came to Jim Thorpe as local police and court officials received training as part of his the PA Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative.

“We recognize we can’t arrest our way out of this crisis, we have to work together and get more people into treatment,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro says he believes that treatment is the best way to prevent opioid deaths in the commonwealth, which happen at a rate of roughly 12 per day. But many people who need it either are afraid to seek it, or don’t have access to it.

The criminal justice system already puts people in contact with treatment services - they are usually a condition of sentences for drug possession. Under LETI, that referral could take place without them being arrested in the first place.

“We want people who need help to know they can go to a police officer, go to a police station or law enforcement agency and say ‘I need help,’ and in turn officer has been trained to get people in to best possible treatment option for them,” Shapiro said.

Carbon County was the second county to join LETI in 2019. District Attorney Michael Greek had not yet been elected, but he says that he sees cases where treatment could be a better option than prosecution.

He said officers in Carbon County can easily incorporate LETI training into their day-to-day, while continuing to go after drug dealers.

Greek said the county has already seen success with its drug treatment court, and can build on what that has done to connect people with treatment.

“I don’t think there’s one police officer you can point to who doesn’t want to see a success story. You don’t want to see people fail,” Greek said.

Shapiro addressed the trainees at the outset of their session. He reiterated that LETI is part of a multi-prong approach to reducing opioid deaths. He obtained $1 billion for Pennsylvania for a settlement from four drug companies for their role in creating the opioid crisis.

And he said he’s proud of the 6,000 arrests his office has made of drug dealers and doctors who overprescribe opioids during his five years in office.

“No one is standing down on our work to arrest those who are bringing these poisons in our communities - what we’re saying to those battling the disease of addiction is you have additional help and resources, and they come in the form of law enforcement,” he said.