Sgt. Daniel McDonald develops evidence-based first responder autism response initiative through national program
NAPLES, Florida — Sgt. Daniel McDonald of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office has become one of the nation’s first law enforcement officers to complete L.E.A.D.’s new Community Prevention Officer (CPO) Program, helping pioneer an evidence-based approach to drug and violence prevention while developing an initiative for first responders who encounter individuals with autism in emergency situations, tailored to the needs of the Collier County community.
Sgt. McDonald was among 12 law enforcement officers from eight states selected for the first class of Community Prevention Officers. Following months of virtual and in-person training in prevention science, strategic planning and evidence-based practices conducted by Applied Prevention Science International (APSI), each officer assessed local community needs, developed a prevention initiative designed to produce measurable outcomes and presented the project during the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence) National Training Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
L.E.A.D. created the CPO Program to take prevention efforts beyond the classroom by training law enforcement officers to identify local risk factors, build partnerships throughout their communities and implement prevention strategies that can be evaluated and refined over time. L.E.A.D. plans to expand the program nationwide as more officers become trained CPOs.
“Through the CPO Program, we support officers working directly with the community to help them make their community safer,” said Nick Loizzi Jr., L.E.A.D.’s Vice President of Programs and coordinator of the CPO Program.
Dr. Zili Sloboda, founder and president of APSI, said the program introduces law enforcement to prevention science and helps officers develop community-based initiatives rooted in research rather than intuition.
“The role of the Community Prevention Officer is to expand this information to the community,” Dr. Sloboda said. “We’re hoping to have Community Prevention Officers get to know the community, recognize what’s going on and identify where the gaps are.”
For Sgt. McDonald, that meant developing an initiative focused on strengthening first responders’ interactions with individuals with autism through evidence-based planning and community collaboration.
Drawing on the prevention science principles taught through the CPO Program, Sgt. McDonald developed a project designed to improve how first responders respond to individuals with autism by identifying community needs, strengthening partnerships and creating strategies that can be evaluated and refined over time to better serve residents and their families.
L.E.A.D. President and CEO Nick DeMauro praised Sgt. McDonald for helping demonstrate the flexibility of the Community Prevention Officer Program in addressing a wide range of community safety challenges.
“Sgt. McDonald exemplifies exactly what the Community Prevention Officer Program was created to accomplish,” DeMauro said. “His initiative demonstrates how prevention science can help law enforcement develop thoughtful, community-focused solutions to meet local needs. We congratulate Sgt. McDonald and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for helping pioneer this important new program.”
To get involved with the Community Prevention Officer program, watch for announcements about upcoming opportunities for CPO training. Visit LEADrugs.org to stay updated on the Community Prevention Officer program and to learn more.
About L.E.A.D. — Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence
L.E.A.D. — Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence — is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Allentown, N.J., dedicated to equipping law enforcement agencies with the resources, training, and curriculum to deliver effective drug and violence prevention education in schools and communities. Since its founding in 2015, L.E.A.D. has partnered with agencies nationwide, supporting more than 7,000 trained instructors who have reached more than one million students in more than 2,500 school systems. L.E.A.D. delivers prevention on the street and in the classroom through its Community Prevention Officer initiative and the Botvin LifeSkills® Training curriculum, the gold standard in evidence-based prevention education. L.E.A.D. is funded through donations and grants that support the organization’s national program and infrastructure, sustaining this work across every community it serves. For more information, visit LEADrugs.org or call 609-259-2500.