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Faculty

Mark Elliott

M.A.
Director, CHJ's National Deflection TA Center
TASC

Mark is the Director for CHJ’s National Deflection TA Center, part of the BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP). He directs a team administering technical assistance for deflection initiatives. The team provides assistance for communities exploring, starting, and operating deflection and pre-arrest diversion programs.

Mark retired from law enforcement in 2024 after serving for over 33 years, including 8 years as police chief. Mark was instrumental in starting a drug treatment court and in bringing deflection to his communities. He led a law enforcement-assisted deflection program integrating all six pathways, along with a court diversion program.

Mark holds a Master's in Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command Class 258 and holds professional certificates in criminal justice leadership.

2027 Sessions

Beyond Police-Only Responses: Building Police–Community Partnerships for the Evolving Opioid Crisis

Session Description: Over the past decade, law enforcement agencies have played a central role in developing and implementing critical life-saving interventions to address the opioid crisis, especially in response to the rapid escalation of fentanyl-related overdoses beginning in 2013. These innovations include responding to 911 overdose calls, carrying naloxone, conducting post-overdose outreach, and creating police-facilitated pathways to treatment and recovery support, often referred to as deflection. These efforts have saved lives and helped move the field beyond arrest-only responses. This session will examine how police-community partnerships can be strengthened by expanding the role of public health agencies, recovery coaches and peers, mobile outreach programs, families, and other nongovernmental partners in engagement, treatment entry, follow-up after overdose, and reentry support. The session will focus on where community partners can step in and share responsibilities that too often fall by default to law enforcement, while also highlighting the critical roles for police that must be maintained. Panelists will draw on lessons learned from police overdose response, implementation science, and practical experience with deflection and community-based engagement models. The session will identify what makes police-community collaborations effective, sustainable, and scalable; why scalable replication of successful programs often struggle; and how training, coaching, leadership support, and clearer role definition can improve implementation. Policy changes at the federal, state, and local level will be discussed. Attendees will leave with practical takeaways for expanding deflection pathways, strengthening treatment and recovery supports across justice settings, improving low-threshold engagement with people who use drugs, and building partnerships that allow police, public health, and community organizations to operate in the roles where each can be most effective.

Presenter

Tuesday, March 30 7:30–8:45 AM
1.25 Credits
Public Safety
Faculty

Richard Baum

M.A., M.P.A.
Author / Professor / Former ONDCP Acting Director
Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy

Richard J. Baum served at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for 28 years across six presidential administrations. From March 2017 to February 2018, he was the Acting Director of ONDCP. In that role, he oversaw the United States’ over $40 billion federal drug control budget, coordinated the government-wide response to drug policy challenges, and concurrently served as Executive Director of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Mr. Baum led the development of major strategic policy documents, including six editions of the National Drug Control Strategy. Mr. Baum is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and author of Inside America’s Opioid Crisis: 12 Hard Lessons for Today’s Drug War, published by Bloomsbury in February 2026. His website is at RichardJBaum.com.

He has delivered numerous keynote addresses and presentations at national forums, including at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (All Rise) Training Conference, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the RTI Policing Symposium, the Police Executive Research Forum, the Cocaine, Meth, and Stimulant Summit, and the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative (PTACC) Training Summit. He served as a featured speaker at the Smart Approaches to Marijuana/Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions Summit in 2026. His book was featured in a 2026 AEI Policy Discussion, and he has appeared on numerous podcasts this year.

Later this year he will speak at All Rise, NAADAC, the NCSL Legislative Summit, and participate in the National Safety Council video series.
Raised in New York City, Mr. Baum now lives in Falls Church, Virginia, with his wife, Linda Bloss-Baum. They have two adult children.

Faculty

Mark Elliott

M.A.
Director, CHJ's National Deflection TA Center
TASC

Mark is the Director for CHJ’s National Deflection TA Center, part of the BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP). He directs a team administering technical assistance for deflection initiatives. The team provides assistance for communities exploring, starting, and operating deflection and pre-arrest diversion programs.

Mark retired from law enforcement in 2024 after serving for over 33 years, including 8 years as police chief. Mark was instrumental in starting a drug treatment court and in bringing deflection to his communities. He led a law enforcement-assisted deflection program integrating all six pathways, along with a court diversion program.

Mark holds a Master's in Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command Class 258 and holds professional certificates in criminal justice leadership.

Faculty

Bradley Ray

PhD
Senior Researcher
RTI International

Bradley Ray, PhD is a Senior Researcher at RTI International. His research focuses on overdose prevention and the intersection of behavioral health and criminal-legal systems.
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