This week Kennebunk Police Chief Robert MacKenzie joined to speak about his crusade to address Substance Use Disorder (SUD) within our community. Chief MacKenzie has been in law enforcement for 33 years with 13 years as the police chief. His experiences both as an officer and as the parent of a child struggling with SUD have led him to take a leading role in creating resources, supports and training for not only first responders but also the community at large,
Highlights of his presentation:
- Understand that SUD is a disease. It may start as a choice but eventually transitions to a disease
- Rotarians can help by supporting the ACES initiative - Adverse Childhood Experience presented through the Pinetree Institute
- They provide training for community members to be effective in a trauma response approach when responding to a family in crisis. The goal is to train community members who will then train others throughout the year.
- Chief Mackenzie was key in creating the Kennebunk Area Response Team which includes PD, Government officials, LICSWS, School officials, doctors and members of the faith based community,
- LEAD Program ( Law enforcement against drugs) The Law Enforcement Against Drugs (LEAD) curriculum replaced the DARE program beginning with the 2016-2017 school year. The LEAD program is less restrictive than DARE, and allows officials to tailor the program to the unique needs of a community
We are truly inspired by the commitment and work of Chief MacKenzie. Club President Danielle DeFelice will be further researching ways that we can support his efforts within York county and Wells Proper.