Former Heroin Addict Says 'Thank You' To Arresting Officer

A former heroin addict has met up with the police officer who arrested him five years ago to say 'thank you' for helping him turn his life around.

Jordan Bladen was living on the street when he was picked up by Deputy Tanner Davis from Clackamas County Sheriff's Office after responding to a warrant in his name.

Jordan had illegal substances in his backpack, but says he promised Davis that day that he would get clean if he didn't charge him.

Davis booked Jordan into Clackamas County Jail, and then 30 days later he helped him enroll onto the Clackamas Substance Addiction Program (CSAP). Jordan graduated in 2016 and stayed clean.

He has since gone on to get married and now has a two-year-old.

Jordan said: "When you're strung out and homeless, and all of society looks down on you, you don't feel a part of anything, to the point where you don't want to be alive anymore - I know what that feels like.

"I had a warrant out for missing court and I had a lot of illegal substances in my backpack.

"I basically talked to him - Davis - and asked him, 'please don't charge me with these charges that you are capable of charging me with right now and I promise you that I will go to rehab and get clean - I don't want to do this anymore'.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

"He was, like, 'are you gonna do what you say you're gonna do' and I was, like, 'yeah', and we shook hands. Thirty days later I was picked up and I went to CSAP."

He went on: "Places like this, people spend so much money to learn some of the stuff that we teach here. This much of it is about drugs and this much is about your thoughts, your actions, and how you get from point A to point B in your mind.

"The hardest thing I've done to this day is break down who you are as a person and your beliefs and trying to figure out why do I believe the things I believe, why do I feel the way I feel, why do I have certain biases, like, why do I continue to do certain things that lead me to certain actions that I don't even want?"

Deputy Davis said it was rare to see someone turn their life around in this way.

He told Jordan: "I know I'm not the only one who has these kinds of interactions with people, but I know that it's rare for them to take that step and take some responsibility and to start getting their life turned around.

"And it's nice to see this success story."

Topics: US News, crime, Health

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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