Unionleader: Force users intotreatment

A Cincinnati police union leader says peoplewhoheavilymisuse opioids endanger officers andshould be forced into treatment.

Sgt. Dan Hilsmade a statement after a Cincinnati officer searching a suspectwas exposed to an unknown, powdery substance that sickenedhim. Thesubstancewas likely fentanyl or another synthetic opioidmore potent than heroin.

Hils said the officer was taken to a hospital Monday and will recover, but it was the third such case involving a Cincinnati officer in two months.

One officer was hospitalizedinMayafterhecameinto contact with an unknown substance during a traffic stop. The officer reported feeling sick and light-headed. Two officerswere treated in August after being exposed to drugs just hours apart.

“We don’t know what this stuff gets cut with, but it’s all over on our streets,” Hils said.

He argued authorities should have greater ability to force people into treatment programs when they’re harming themselves or endangering others. The state’s prisons and jails just don’t have enough space, according to Hils.

“We are caught in a Catch22, between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “Our people are being put in extreme danger because of this crisis.”

Daniels was 20 years old when hewas taken into custody last November at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, after he had purchased a ticket to Houston that eventually would have taken him overseas.

He faces up to 20 years in prison.