SDPD STARTS FENTANYL INITIATIVES

Search dogs, overdose maps aim to help police investigators target drug dealers

In an effort to combat the opioid overdose crisis, the San Diego Police Department is rolling out two new initiatives: police dogs trained to detect the drug fentanyl and software used to map where overdoses have occurred in the city.

Police officials said recently that the new efforts will help investigators target drug dealers. The newly certified police dogs will be used to help search for fentanyl, and the software would allow detectives to focus anti-drug efforts in areas where multiple fatal and nonfatal overdoses have occurred.

“It just gives us an idea of where the overdoses are occurring and where we can direct our resources to prevent” other cases, San Diego police Lt. William Brown said in an interview last week. The maps will be unavailable to the public, he said.

Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid used in medicine to treat pain — is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, authorities say. Even small doses can be lethal.

Illicit fentanyl is oftentimes pressed into pills and laced with other drugs. Many times the pills are sold as other drugs, such as oxycodone, and users are unaware the counterfeit pills contain fentanyl.

Like much of the nation, San Diego County continues to grapple with a surge in fentanyl overdose deaths. Fatal overdoses in the county increased from 33 in 2016 to more than 800 in 2021, according to the latest county figures.

During a meeting of the San Diego City Council’s Public Safety Committee last week, Councilmember Marni von Wilpert called the surge in fentanyl overdose deaths “absolutely heartbreaking.” Von Wilpert, who chairs the committee, noted that the group is scheduled to hear a presentation about drug addiction next month.

The presentations, she said, are part of larger conversations that are expected to help the city figure out how to further combat the issue.

In November, Mayor Todd Gloria issued an executive order that called on the San Diego Police Department to prioritize enforce