Collier Sheriff Sergeant Pioneers L.E.A.D Program

Sgt. Karen Eggleston-Negron of the Collier County Sheriff's Office is one of the nation's first officers to complete the L.E.A.D. Community Prevention Officer (CPO) program, helping pioneer an evidence-based approach to drug and violence prevention while building a youth vaping prevention initiative tailored to her community.

Sgt. Eggleston-Negron was among 12 officers from eight states selected for the CPO program's first class. Following months of virtual and in-depth training in prevention science, strategic planning, and evidence-based practices conducted in partnership with 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 and Violence) National Training Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

L.E.A.D. created the CPO program to extend prevention efforts beyond the classroom by training 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 certified 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. Vice President of Programs and CPO Coordinator.

Dr. Zili Sloboda, founder and president of APSI and a longtime member of L.E.A.D.'s board of directors, 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. Eggleston-Negron, that meant addressing one of the most significant substance-use issues affecting young people in Collier County — youth vaping.

Drawing on the prevention science principles taught through the CPO program, Sgt. Eggleston-Negron developed the "Escape the Vape" campaign, a comprehensive initiative combining evidence-based classroom education, parent outreach, community partnerships, and public awareness campaigns designed to reduce youth nicotine and THC vaping while measuring the campaign’s effectiveness over time.

During her presentation at the national training conference, Sgt. Eggleston-Negron shared a promotional video from her campaign, intended to help students visualize the effects of vaping by showing students coughing up colorful plumes of smoke.

"It’s a big problem. We have seen it start to reduce, but it’s not reducing to what it needs to be," Sgt. Eggleston-Negron said. "We want to build a strong partnership with the community and the Collier County schools to reduce the vaping on school campuses."

L.E.A.D. Executive Director and CEO Nick DeMauro praised Sgt. Eggleston-Negron for helping launch what the organization believes will become a new standard for community-based prevention.

"Sgt. Eggleston-Negron exemplifies exactly what the L.E.A.D. Community Prevention Officer program was created to accomplish," DeMauro said. "By combining prevention science with strong community partnerships, she is developing solutions that address the unique needs of her community while helping demonstrate how this program can strengthen prevention efforts nationwide."

To learn more about L.E.A.D.'s mission to keep young people safe from drugs and violence, visit LEADrugs.org. To support programs like the Community Prevention Officer program, visit LEADrugs.org/donate.