ABERDEEN, Md. — For many homeless people, the Aberdeen Train Station is the crossroads to find a hot meal, methadone, or even respite from the heat.
WATCH: Offering hope instead of handcuffs
“Grand Central Station, but we are not treated the same,” said Laura-Beth Malkmus. “We have two trains. We have the river. We have two major highways, 95, Route 40. Truck stops all up and down this, but do you see any protection for us people here who live on these highways? No.”
The homeless presented a problem for police as well, who were repeatedly responding to nuisance complaints, tying up resources to deal with some of the same people over and over again.
That’s when they decided to launch the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, program.
“We found that arresting is not always the answer,” said Aberdeen Police Lt. Doug Reitz. “You can’t arrest your way out of every situation. Sometimes you have to give them a hand up instead of a handcuff.”
Case Worker Monique Burgess of the University of Maryland Medical Center rides along with officers to provide homeless people who have committed low-level offenses with the option of avoiding jail time by agreeing to seek help.
“The concept is when we go out together is to basically take the case management piece out of the officer’s hands and actually put it into a professional’s hands,” said Burgess. “So most times when I am on the scene, my job is to talk to that person, assess where they’re at, and where they need to be.”
In the LEAD program’s first year, police engaged with nearly four dozen homeless people, and almost half of them opted for services over serving time.
For Laura-Beth Malkmus, the choice was clear.
“They said, ‘Join the mental health program out here instead of going to jail,’” said Malkmus, “and of course, I don’t want to go to jail and come back out here in the same situation, so I said, ‘I’ll do whatever you ask of me for a year.’ Yes. Sure, and I graduated.”
A crossroads leading to a new lease on life after facing time behind bars for what Malkmus claims was simple trespassing.
