In March, Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger spoke in-depth about how his department is going about making an impact toward public safety, and now, the results are in. The Essex County Sheriff’s Department’s 2025 Annual Report reveals that they are seeing the lowest one-year recidivism rate in Massachusetts, of 13.5%, as a result of their continued efforts and programming.

“Public safety isn’t measured about how many people we incarcerate. It’s how many people we don’t incarcerate — and those that we do, they don’t come back,” Coppinger said shortly after the report was released.

By focusing on rehabilitation, accountability, and innovative programs such as the Supporting Transitions and Re-Entry (STAR) Program, which serves around 165 individuals per week and gives some access to treatment education and support for employment, the department has been able to foster change that includes combating issues such as substance abuse disorder through the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program, which treats more than 200 inmates daily.

These programs have continued operating with one of the most efficient budgets in the entire Commonwealth. The report has also shown that Essex County has the lowest cost per inmate out of all of the 14 counties in the last five years, which is a win for both taxpayers and those living within the North Shore. Coppinger credited this recent success to a “team effort” by not just his department, but local enforcements and program leaders that are helping inmates long after they leave the Corrections Facility.

“This is so important because if we’re spending taxpayers dollars on programs and the recidivism rate keeps going up, then we’re not doing our job. We need to make positive results,” Coppinger emphasized. “And if we don’t do our job here at the jail, then cities like Lynn and Salem and Nahant and Swampscott, it affects the quality of life in those neighborhoods and the crime rates, and that affects everybody’s life.”

He continued, “The purpose of what we try to do here in the jail today, including with the staff program, is bring everybody together. We realize, and we have proven, that the success rate is in how do our job here in the jail. We put together a good reentry program, but then we get all these community partners, whether they’re in the education world, the vocational world, treatment, mental health, substance use. We have to keep the plan ongoing after the inmate leaves jail.”