HOPE Initiative – Supporting DEA 360 Dance Program

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rozzoni, Law Enforcement Coordinator Gutierrez, Media & Outreach Assistant Ferda, and Crime Prevention and Community Outreach Coordinator Sedore of the U.S. Attorney’s Office were in attendance as DEA 360 Albuquerque kicked off a new program for students at Hayes Middle School in Albuquerque. DEA is partnering with Keshet Dance Center for the Arts to bring a free after school dance program to interested students in an effort to give students a chance to explore drug-free lifestyles through dance. DEA’s 360 Strategy responds to the heroin and prescription opioid pill crisis. The 360 Strategy takes an innovative three-pronged approach to combating heroin/opioid use through: (1) coordinated Law Enforcement actions against drug cartels and heroin traffickers in specific communities; (2) Diversion Control enforcement actions against DEA registrants operating outside the law and long-term engagement with pharmaceutical drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies, and practitioners; and (3) Community Outreach through local partnerships that empower communities to take back affected neighborhoods after enforcement actions and prevent the same problems from cropping up again. DEA rolled out the 360 Strategy in November 2015 in Pittsburgh together with the U.S. Attorney and state and local partners. Since that time, DEA has deployed the strategy in other pilot cities, including Albuquerque in 2017.