PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger answers a question during a forum for Essex County Sheriff candidates.
BY LEAH DEARBORN
LYNN — Six candidates running for Essex County Sheriff gathered on Thursday at the Community of Brotherhood to debate drug abuse and rehabilitation.
Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger and Gloucester attorney Ed O’Reilly were among the attendees, as well as Michael Marks, 28-year veteran and superintendent of the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton.
Paul Russell of Malden, Independent Mark Archer of Lynn and Craig Lane of Newburyport were also present.
Lane spoke of his experience working in business and security in the private sector. He said his corporate background would streamline and improve management of the sheriff’s department.
The debate centered on the candidates’ views on the treatment of drug offenders and how they would prevent repeat offenses.
When asked about punishment and rehabilitation, Coppinger spoke of his more than three decades of experience. He pointed to the effectiveness of past programs aimed at curtailing other addictions.
“Twenty years ago in this room, a lot of people would’ve been smoking a Marlboro,” he said. “But society pushed back.”
Marks drew on his work in Middleton, where a 42-bed detox facility opened this past winter.
“A job is huge in not coming back to jail,” he said in regards to stopping the cycle of addiction and criminal behavior. “The goal is to send them back better than they came to us.”
O’Reilly voiced his support for the Gloucester “angel” initiative, which tries to stop drug addiction before abusers enter the correctional system by placing them in treatment.
“Everyone has a little window when they say they need help,” said O’Reilly. “We need treatment on demand.”
Russell repeatedly emphasized the importance of prevention and creating a bridge between the treatment of addiction and mental health programs.
Archer, a former plumber who said he helped to start the first addiction unit in the state after switching careers to law enforcement, promised to strengthen and build on current programs.
Moderator Derryl Murkinson provided a thoughtful interlude between debate questions.
“The big question is, why now?” Murkinson asked. “People have been dying from heroin for many years. But it was never identified as an epidemic or a sickness … But now it’s permeated the mainstream of America. Now we have a problem.”
The sheriff’s seat became available when Newburyport Republican Frank Cousins chose not to seek re-election.
Voters in 34 North Shore communities will go to the polls on Sept. 8 to choose a Democrat and a Republican to run in the November final election.