The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bringing dealers down
MIDDLETOWN — The Police Department struggles under budget constraints, trying to stem the flow of the illegal opioids that are flowing into the city and killing users in its wake.
“They run out of funds to get the money, now they’re starting to steal. Crime: It’s breaking up the community,” Police Chief William McKenna told Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz during a roundtable discussion Oct. 9 at Middlesex Hospital.
The justice system is overwhelmed with prosecuting people, and sometimes punishments meted just aren’t enough, the chief said.
“They’re out again on the streets after a few months and they’re doing it again, selling drugs to people,” McKenna said.
Heroin overdoses are what his department primarily sees, and to a lesser extent, fentanyl.
In September, McKenna said, detectives made two arrests they hope will begin to make a dent in the opioid crisis the city is suffering, in particular, the
North End.
“We responded to an overdose death, and we backtracked, and found the dealer. He was charged with negligent homicide,” McKenna said.
A member of the force is assigned to a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force, which has helped in local efforts.
They’re partnering with local agencies whose personnel deal with overdoses as part of the population they serve, many of whom are drugaddicted and / or suffer from alcohol abuse and mental health issues.
Just last week, an employee of the St. Vincent de Paul Middletown soup kitchen administered Narcan to a woman who was dying of an overdose.
Dining Services Manager Lisa MageeCorvo was trained less than a day before in CPR and how to use Narcan.
“She was blue. I laid her on the ground and went through exactly what I learned. I was talking to her: “‘C’mon, honey. No, no, no. Not today,’ ” she said.
“It’s funny because I have a highenergy personality, and I’m always running around. I was like — Calm. OK: On the floor, roll over, arm up, airway clear, head tilted back,” she said.
The woman is now doing well, according to MaryEllen Shuckerow, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Middletown.
“We’re responding to the same people over and over. We deal with the families — they look to us for answers. We can’t force somebody into treatment if they don’t want it, as opposed to if the treatment is voluntary: You check out, and within a week, two weeks, you’re back out there again,” Middletown Police Lt. Michael DeSena said during the forum earlier this month.
Police are assisted by specially trained narcotics canines when searching for drugs.
“We need to have more conversations about the opioid crisis. We need to have more concerted partnerships in helping the police,” Shuckerow said.
“The drug culture is a strong underculture. If you live here, you can see it. The police are working diligently and hard on the detective levels to partner with us and call it out, and say ‘Not here,” she added.
It’s not just emergency workers and users who are at risk of exposure.
“We’re training on the dangers, but a major chunk of it has to be training our own on how to protect themselves. Unbudgeted: We’re dealing with the monetary issues,” Chief of Police William McKenna said Oct. 9.
“If you want to talk about the countless hours of manpower to get probable cause for a drug dealer who sold a bad batch of heroin or fentanyl to someone: That’s a struggle with our budget.
“Every law enforcement agency, on the local level, all the way up to the feds are trying to team together to find out where the big [supplies] are coming from,” McKenna said.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain reliever, approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the past four years, since firefighters have had nalaxone in their arsenal, first responders have administered over 300 shots of the medication, which can reverse an opioid overdose, said Assistant Fire Chief Jay Woron, who supervises his department’s EMS division.
Some of that heroin is laced with fentanyl, Woron said.
Recently, his staff had to administer eight shots of the drug nasally in a single day to a handful of patients.
Each spray has between 10 to 15 minutes of effectiveness, he said. Once a patient is given Narcan, it’s mandatory they be taken for medical care.
“They can’t refuse treatment. They have to go to the hospital, because that Narcan is going to wear off and the doctors will have to take it from there,” Woron said.
Now, local officials are charged with reporting each time they give the drug to the poison control center.
“We call and say we just gave three shots to this patient on Loveland Street,” for example, Woron said.
“An hour later, we’re on High Street and we’re giving shots. They’re tracing it in the city and what they’ll do is call Middlesex [Hospital] and say, ‘We’ve got in the city today. You can expect to see multiple patients,’ and they can ramp up.
“If it’s so bad, they may have to divert to other hospitals,” Woron said.
Meanwhile, Shuckerow and her staff are doing their part.
“I can’t say, ‘You can’t take a drink or do drugs.’ But I can say, ‘Don’t do it here,’ ” said Shuckerow, who works with the Department of Mental Health’s River Valley Services in Middletown to connect people with addiction treatment, mental health care and other services.
“Drug dealers are preying on our people. They’re an easy target for them. Helping our guests know they don’t have to do that anymore and welcoming them here, getting them help, getting them assistance. Keeping them away from the drug dealers,” Shuckerow said.
The state Department of Health and Human Services offers information on resources to help those addicted to drugs and other substances at ct.gov/dmhas.