Latest news with #MassachusettsSheriffsAssociation
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Norfolk County sheriff talks rehabilitation in Massachusetts prisons, weighs in on Karen Read case impact
Massachusetts' Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott is lobbying for federal funding that will help convicts reacclimate into society, saying ultra-harsh conditions in prison are a thing of the past. McDermott said the main role of the sheriff is not just overseeing punishment for crimes but "the care and custody of those individuals in the criminal justice system ... and most of those individuals are dealing with mental health issues as well as substance use disorder." That's why McDermott, in his role as head of the Massachusetts Sheriff's Association, traveled to Washington last March to meet with the President and top Trump administration law enforcement officials to lobby for continued federal funding for programs aimed at helping prepare convicts for their eventual reentry into society. In an interview on WBZ's Sunday edition of "Keller At Large," McDermott said he didn't know yet if budget cuts just passed by Congress will affect those local programs. "We're a little bit nervous because there's a significant amount of money that goes into our medically assisted treatment program that all of the Massachusetts sheriffs were on the cutting edge of years ago," he said. "It's an expensive program, however it is a successful program, and there's been research that shows that medically assisted treatment programs work." While McDermott says he came away from his meetings in March feeling that the importance of this approach was acknowledged, he did note a difference in philosophy with the feds exposed by recent talk of re-opening the long-shuttered Alcatraz federal prison in San Francisco, a cultural symbol of ultra-harsh incarceration policy. "I think that that idea has come and gone. I think that Hollywood, as well as sometimes reality is sensationalized, 'lock them up, throw away the key, don't feed them.' That hasn't worked," McDermott said. He said Massachusetts sheriffs are focused on rehabilitation and reentry. "Yes, we recognize that people are in the criminal justice system for having violated crimes, and there are victims, obviously in these crimes as well. We don't want to be forgetful of that," he said. "But ... these individuals that are coming into our care and custody are coming back to live in Quincy and in Newton and at Wellesley, they're coming back into these communities, so we need to give back a better product than we received, and that's why reentry begins on day one." McDermott also discussed embattled Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, and the impact of social media on the justice system in the wake of the Karen Read case. McDermott, a former aide to Morrissey at the State House, said he has full confidence in the district attorney. "Mike Morrissey is a man of high integrity," McDermott said. "And I think that when the dust settles on the Karen Read case as well as many other cases that Mike has had to prosecute over the course of his tenure, he will continue to do so, he's going to have to answer to that and answer the people and he's one person that I know can do that." Watch the entire interview in the video player above and join us every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. for more conversations with top local policymakers.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cocchi defends role of sheriffs at the State House
BOSTON (WWLP) – Sheriffs from across the commonwealth met at the State House on Monday to continue discussions about opportunities for consolidation and collaboration within the state's correctional system. Hampden County's Sheriff Cocchi is the Vice President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association. He spoke at the meeting, repeating a similar refrain to previous meetings, saying incarcerated people must receive professional help for any mental health issues before any other issues–including criminal activity–can be addressed. 'Then and only then, when the mental health is stabilized, the substance abuse now is being recognized and we're starting to do the treatment and the therapy on the substance use side of things, then and only then can we do behavior modification,' said Sheriff Cocchi. Sheriff Cocchi noted that re-entry to society after serving time is a hot topic across the country and that Massachusetts has been honing re-entry services for nearly 3 decades, but there's still work to do. 'It's certainly a new concept, but I can tell you we have not perfected it. It is not perfect. We continue to try to refine with the times, with the incidents that are happening in the community, with the suffering that happens,' said Cocchi. Cocchi, joined by several fellow sheriffs, pointed out that far more individuals move through the sheriff system than the state Department of Corrections, but the Department of Corrections receives significantly more funding. This group of law enforcement and lawmaking officials was established in the last state budget and will continue to meet throughout the legislative session to discuss the future of the correctional system. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
