Public safety focus of summit
IMPERIAL — Officials are calling the city of El Centro’s first-ever Public Safety Summit on Friday a success, as evidenced by attendees’ pledges to further develop collaborative efforts. One such collaborative effort includes the development of training opportunities at Imperial Valley College for public safety personnel from Arizona and Mexico.
The desire for such training was further enhanced by a series of public safety simulations presented during the daylong summit at the campus.
“People were incredibly impressed with IVC and the technology and equipment that we use to train our students,” said El Centro Councilman Efrain Silva. “That’s why there’s a keen interest in bringing firefighters and police for training here.”
The simulations, which also included a nursing and EMT simulation, as well as a suicide prevention and CPR simulation, had made up the bulk of the summit’s first half and were followed in the afternoon by a series of presentations. San Luis Colorado, Sonora, Mexico police Chief Julio Valenzuela was on hand to share information about a program there that aims to prevent youth from being recruited as drug smugglers, or mules.
The program involves direct and indirect educational outreach efforts with youth as well as parents, and appears to be making a positive impact, Valenzuela said. “They are victims, too, because they are being targeted for recruitment,” Valenzuela said.
Attendees also learned about the health risks associated with narcotics usage as well as treatment methods for individuals who overdose. In America, deaths attributed to drug overdoses currently outnumber gun-related and vehicle collision deaths, said Christian Tomaszewski, chief medical officer at El Centro Regional Medical Center. Tomaszewski also spoke about past and present drug use trends and law enforcement and public safety efforts aimed at reducing drug abuse.
States that currently allow medical and/or recreational cannabis usage appear to have less opioid usage among patients suffering from pain, Tomaszewski said.
“A lot of people have said they’ve turned to cannabis to control their pain,” he said. Marijuana laws and regulations, as well as its apparent correlation with crime, formed the basis of the summit’s final group presentation.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jose Serrano spoke about current statewide efforts to develop a standardized method to determine whether a driver is under the influence of marijuana. “There is no established measurement,” Serrano said. “That’s what makes it very difficult not only for us but for district attorneys to prosecute.”
Yet, Serrano said there has been a notable uptick in the number of arrests locally for driving under the influence where marijuana was a factor.
“We’re on pace to double what we had last year,” Serrano said. The CHP is also looking to enhance its capabilities to train local law enforcement agencies in the detection of impaired drivers, thanks in part to a $3 million grant from the recent passage of Senate Bill 94, which regulates the adult use of medicinal and recreational marijuana.
El Centro Police Department Chief Brian Johnson offered those present a cautionary tale about marijuana use and its impact on the community.
Data from Colorado, which was among the first states to legalize recreational cannabis, suggests that its prevalence has contributed to an increase in property and violent crime, Johnson said.
States that have legalized marijuana have also seen increased usage among youth, Johnson said.
Youth ages 12 to 17 in both Alaska and Oregon led the country among usage. Likewise, Colorado youth ages 12 to 17 used cannabis at a rate 56 percent higher than the national average. “To me, those are very concerning statistics,” Johnson said.
Despite the softening of attitudes surrounding marijuana usage, Johnson said one should look at the issue from the standpoint of that of a parent whose responsibility it is to protect their children from potential harm.
El Centro City Attorney Betsy Martyn spoke about the array of competing laws and regulations that are related to marijuana.
She also disclosed that revenue from statewide cannabis cultivation and retail sales was projected to be about $175 million, but have only generated about $34 million for the year.
“That means all the things that were supposed to be funded by this are not,” Martyn said.
Friday’s summit was the third in a series of summits that resulted from discussions that took place in October during a mayors’ summit hosted by Mexicali Mayor Gustavo Sanchez.
At that mayors’ summit, representatives from throughout the nearby border region identified three areas of common concern, including public safety, economic development and the environment, said Silva.
“That was the seed, and it’s been up to us to nurture it and come up with something,” Silva said.