“(Leonard) sees an opportunity to make the system better, and he’s taking it,” said John Shinholser, president of the McShin Foundation, which was founded in 2004 and now offers services in five area jails. “It takes courage to do what he’s doing, to address something head-on.”

Leonard said some critics have panned the move as being soft on crime.

“But for a lot of these folks, this is the best chance they have of getting better,” he said. “If we can reach them while they are here, they’re less likely to come back, and ultimately that will save us — and therefore the taxpayers — money.”

Others want to know why law enforcement’s evolving view on substance abuse and its ills — from the zero-tolerance war on drugs to an emerging public health concern — didn’t come sooner.

“That’s like asking why we treated our veterans after Desert Storm better than we did after Vietnam,” Leonard said. “If we can do better, why wouldn’t we want to?”

He has not yet tallied how much the program will cost but expects it will take about $30,000 in staffing and services. Those resources will come from the existing annual budget, he said.