Officer John Gill, a coordinator of Operation HOPE at the Scarborough Police Department, has been named to a new advisory council that will oversee the national Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative.

Formed over the last year, the initiative is a network of more than 150 police departments and 200 drug treatment centers that helps people get into rehabilitation programs by providing scholarships for participants, regardless of whether they have health insurance.

“Being asked to serve on this national council provides an opportunity to help guide and direct how police officers and agencies nationwide respond to addiction,” Gill said Wednesday. It also will give police departments in Maine a new voice to help shape drug policy and improve law enforcement’s response to the heroin and opiate crisis, Gill said.

Since forming a year ago, Operation HOPE (Heroin-Opioid Prevention Effort) has helped 210 people get into rehabilitation programs, said Jaime Higgins, another coordinator of the Scarborough program.

The advisory council will include Chief Fred Ryan of Arlington, Massachusetts (chairman); Sgt. Michael Braley of Everett, Washington; Chief Danny Langloss of Dixon, Illinois; Sgt. Brittney Garrett of Jeffersontown, Kentucky; Chief Tim Lentz of Covington, Louisiana; and Chief Joseph Solomon of Methuen, Massachusetts.