Officer Joshua Herrmann is part of the Community Engagement Unit working under the Criminal Investigation Division as Somersworth’s Prevention, Enforcement, & Treatment (P.E.T.) Officer.

The P.E.T. Program is a program that has a plain clothed officer assigned as the program coordinator to address various issues within the community including substance abuse, its prevention, and its treatment. This program is designed to prevent problems before they occur, intervene when issues arise, and provide treatment to those who need it.

This program is part of a broader strategy to create a safer and healthier community. It is supported by various community organizations, and it will require ongoing collaboration and investment to be effective.

Officer Herrmann is a part of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and is recovery coach trained with over two decades of experience with most of the different strategies, recovery programs, and techniques in mental health. Officer Herrmann works with all available resources to continue the message of recovery through unity. Officer Herrmann bridges any gaps between police and the community through his extensive amount of lived experience.

Officer Herrmann is unique in that he himself is a member of long-term recovery and started his own recovery from alcohol and substance use disorder in July of 2004. He served in the Illinois Army National Guard starting in 2006 and started his Law Enforcement career in Illinois on the 1st of November in 2009. He started at Sheridan Correctional Center in Sheridan, IL. as a Correctional Officer. Sheridan Correctional Center is an adult male medium security prison, totally dedicated to substance abuse treatment and is one of the largest substance abuse treatment programs in the nation.

In June of 2011, Officer Herrmann transferred to Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, IL. (as that is where he lived). Dixon CC is a unique prison as it is a medium/max/super-max psychiatric prison. Officer Herrmann would work there for a little over a decade prior to moving to New Hampshire.

In November of 2021, Officer Herrmann continued his career as a correctional officer at the Northern Correctional Facility (a NH. state prison). Officer Herrmann was there a year before transitioning to police.

As a Police Officer, Officer Herrmann created a recovery chip to be handed out by officers to those that struggle with mental health or substance use disorders. The purpose of the recovery chip is for an officer to build rapport with the individual who struggles. The individual needs to know they are seen by the officer and accepted as they are in order to trust the officer to help. The recovery chip gives that space that creates a safe environment for the individual to take their time and make the decision themselves to accept the offer of assistance.

As the recovery chip went state-wide, the Somersworth Police Department adapted the recovery chip for officers to use in patrol. Chief Sunderland and Cpt. DeFrancesco met Officer Herrmann at the Rx & Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, TN. in April of 2025. Officer Herrmann was excited to see the recovery chip and while at the Summit a discussion took place of the possibility, he would come to Somersworth to do the program here. Officer Herrmann was sworn in for the City of Somersworth July 7th, 2025, and completed his Field training in the first week of October 2025. Officer Herrmann has made many connections since and has offered many individuals different pathways tailored to their specific journey through recovery.

Officer Herrmann has dedicated his life to serving others and as he would put it when asked why… he simply says, “Someone else did the same for me!”.