Sign this petition if you agree with Poughkeepsie's Carol Curcio that Dutchess County and all local police departments within our county should follow the lead of Broome and Jefferson counties here in NYS and police departments across our state like Cooperstown, Cobleskill, Floral Park, Gowanda, Oxford, Port Dickinson, and Salamanca (and 100 municipalities across the U.S.)-- and formally join the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI)-- to make sure that local heroin and opioid addicts here in Dutchess County get treatment instead of incarceration, to save lives, save tax dollars, and prevent the spread and proliferation of deadly, costly, and destructive drug addiction in our communities.

See just a bit below-- Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner's 2/16/16 resolution submitted to our County Legislature's offices for exactly this to happen-- sadly, to date there has been no action on this-- email all 25 at countylegislators@dutchessny.gov to build support for PAARI to happen here sooner rather than later (PAARIUSA.org).

Fact: As of May 10, 2016, "the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative's roster, in less than 11 months, has burgeoned to 106 police departments in 24 states as law enforcement agencies nationwide have partnered with P.A.A.R.I. to help people suffering with the disease of addiction in their communities access treatment and begin to take back their lives."                                  http://paariusa.org/2016/05/10/police-assisted-addiction-and-recovery-initiative-surpasses-100-police-department-partners-in-24-states/

The Poughkeepsie Journal reported the following in a front-page article May 26, 2016:  "The number of accidental drug overdose deaths in Dutchess County jumped 31 percent from 2014 to 2015.  Last year, there were 59 accidental drug overdose deaths investigated by the county's medical examiner's office, 14 more than in 2014, according to the most recent county data available from the Medical Examiner's office.  The number of local accidental overdose deaths has fluctuated in recent years according to the county, up from 36 in 2010, with a high of 63 deaths in 2013.  A second set of statistics specifically regarding opioid-related overdoses from the state Health Department — which tracks information differently from the county — show fatalities among Dutchess residents surged from three in 2003 to 22 in 2007, and increased to 37 in 2013. The state calculates the number of accidental opioid overdoses based on a person's county of residence, according to the department.Dutchess had the highest rate of opioid-related overdose fatalities among its residents from 2009-2013 in counties with 20 or more deaths, at a rate of 5.5 per 100,000 people. Suffolk and Bronx counties were ranked second and third.  The Dutchess County Health Department said there has been a "consistent increase" in emergency room visits and hospitalizations related to non-fatal heroin overdoses. Between 2010 and 2014, the rate of emergency room visits and hospitalizations among Dutchess residents due to unintentional, non-fatal overdose from heroin “more than tripled” from 11.8 overdoses per 100,000 people to 41.8 overdoses per 100,000 people."                               http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/25/drug-deaths-up-dutchess-soar-across-state/84620926/

Pass it on...

Joel Tyner, Dutchess County Legislator, Clinton/Rhinebeck 324 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580 joeltyner@earthlink.net DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com 845-464-2245/876-2488 Host of "The Real Majority Project" Saturdays 8-11 am on WHVW.com 950 AM

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[Joel submitted this resolution Feb. 16, 2016 to the offices of the Dutchess County Legislature-- incredibly, to date there has been absolutely no action on this]

FOR DUTCHESS COUNTY SHERIFF AND MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN DUTCHESS COUNTY TO JOIN POLICE ASSISTED ADDICTION AND RECOVERY INITIATIVE TO ENSURE TREATMENT FOR HEROIN ADDICTS INSTEAD OF INCARCERATION, AS 64 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN 19 STATES HAVE ALREADY DONE

WHEREAS, the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) was started to support local police departments as they work with opioid addicts; rather than arrest our way out of the problem of drug addiction, P.A.A.R.I. committed police departments to encourage opioid drug users to seek recovery, help distribute life saving opioid blocking drugs to prevent and treat overdoses, connect addicts with treatment programs and facilities, and provide resources to other police departments and communities that want to do more to fight the opioid addiction epidemic, and

WHEREAS, P.A.A.R.I. was created by Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal to bridge the gap between the police department and the opioid addicts seeking recovery, a revolutionary new way to fight the war on drugs by doing something about the demand, not just the supply; under their plan, drug addicts who ask the police department for help will be immediately taken to a hospital and placed in a recovery program, not arrest or jail, and

WHEREAS, the Broome County District Attorney and Broome County Sheriff here in New York, with the support of the Port Dickinson Police Department and other agencies, is creating an addiction treatment program; this began after Gloucester Police Chief Paul Campanello visited Binghamton last August 2015; last September, the Jefferson County Sheriff in New York committed to partnering with P.A.A.R.I. and implementing an addiction treatment program, and

WHEREAS, here in New York State, the Police Departments of Cobleskill, Cooperstown, Floral Park, Gowanda, Oxford, Port Dickinson, and Salamanca have all also joined P.A.A.R.I. to save heroin addicts from death or incarceration to create and launch their own programs and initiatives aimed at attacking drugs from the demand side rather than just the supply, and

WHEREAS, the following law enforcement agencies have joined P.A.A.R.I. as well by lending their voice to the cause and/or by creating their own addiction programs: Anaheim, Augusta, Groton, Lodi, Middlebury, Orlando, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police, Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police Association, and over fifty others across the United States, and

WHEREAS, for decades, municipal police officers have been on the front lines of the war on drugs; until now, they have been solely called upon to attempt to disrupt an ever-increasing supply chain; that meant police officers often found themselves arresting drug addicts as much, if not more so, than drug dealers and traffickers, and

WHEREAS, in most cases, the addicts were only guilty of possessing an illegal, life-ruining substance and they faced arrest, prosecution and prison terms; in the meantime, heroin and opioid addiction has become a severe public health concern in the United States, destroying and often ending lives, and

WHEREAS, the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the Gloucester Police addiction initiatives, to aid other police departments to implement similar programs, and to foster a dialogue around the unique opportunity for police departments to take direct action against the disease of drug addiction in their communities, and

WHEREAS, working in conjunction with the medical community and science-based recovery programs, police departments can make a difference in their communities by saving lives from drug overdoses, reducing the number of drug addicts and opioid drug demand, thereby devaluing a seemingly endless drug supply, and

WHEREAS, P.A.A.R.I. also works to remove the stigma associated with drug addiction, turning the conversation toward the disease of addiction rather than the crime of addiction, working directly with treatment centers to secure scholarships and fully-funded in-patient programs for addicts, and therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature strongly urges that the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department and all municipal police departments in Dutchess County join the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative to make sure that heroin addicts here locally get treatment instead of incarceration, and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive, Dutchess County Sheriff, Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council, and all police departments in Dutchess County

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http://paariusa.org/2016/05/10/police-assisted-addiction-and-recovery-initiative-surpasses-100-police-department-partners-in-24-states/

Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative Surpasses 100 Police Department Partners in 24 States

P.A.A.R.I.
Leonard Campanello, Co-Founder
John Rosenthal, Co-founder & Chairman
One Bridge St., Suite #300
Newton, MA 02458
For Immediate Release

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative Surpasses 100 Police Department Partners in 24 States

Partners from Maine to Washington to Louisiana Teaming up to Fight Addiction

GLOUCESTER — Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal, co-founders of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.), are extraordinarily pleased to announce that the organization’s roster, in less than 11 months, has burgeoned to 106 police departments in 24 states as law enforcement agencies nationwide have partnered with P.A.A.R.I. to help people suffering with the disease of addiction in their communities access treatment and begin to take back their lives.

Last June, Chief Campanello and Rosenthal launched P.A.A.R.I., a nonprofit organization created to support law enforcement agencies as they work with those suffering from the disease of addiction by removing the stigma and placing them into treatment instead of behind bars.

Since its inception, one by one, police departments throughout the country have come forward, committed to compassionately altering the way addiction is handled in their cities and towns.

“It’s an honor to stand with so many of my fellow law enforcement leaders across the nation as a unified voice working toward the same cause,” Chief Campanello said. “As public safety officials, we are charged by our communities with treating this illness with dignity, compassion and respect while working to try and help those affected. Additionally, because law enforcement is on the front lines of so many issues, it is our responsibility to intervene when we can, before further harm is done, before arrest even, if we can. The fact that so many law enforcement officials from around the country agree is shifting the way in which we engage with our respective communities.”

Today, 106 police departments, sheriffs, and other law enforcement agencies in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin are working with P.A.A.R.I. to change the stigma of addiction and help support and place people suffering with the disease of addiction into long-term treatment.

All law enforcement P.A.A.R.I. partners acknowledge that opioid addiction is a chronic disease versus a crime, which needs treatment not jail.

“P.A.A.R.I. began as an innovative law enforcement-based entry point into treatment and recovery for anyone suffering with the horrific disease of opioid addiction. In less than a year, we have already helped change the national conversation from opioid addiction as a disease versus a crime and placed 427 people into treatment in Gloucester alone and another 500 through the 106 police department partners around the country,” Rosenthal said. “What we started in Gloucester, with Chief Campanello’s bold ANGEL Initiative, is now a national model that will continue to grow and lead to a long term treatment system for opioid addiction, just like cancer, diabetes and any other chronic disease.”

The number of new P.A.A.R.I. partners is expected to grow dramatically over the next several months as 20 more police departments in Massachusetts and two counties in New Hampshire are in the process of joining, and many more in other states are lining up. The Illinois Chiefs of Police Association recently endorsed that state’s local P.A.A.R.I. programs, which encourages others to follow in the footsteps of Dixon, Rolling Meadows and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.

About P.A.A.R.I.
P.A.A.R.I. was started to support local police departments as they work with those struggling with the disease of addiction. Rather than arrest our way out of the problem of drug addiction, P.A.A.R.I. committed police departments:

Encourage opioid drug users to seek recovery
Help distribute life saving opioid blocking drugs to prevent and treat overdoses
Connect people suffering with opioid addiction with treatment programs and facilities
Provide resources to other police departments and communities that want to do more to fight the opioid addiction epidemic.
P.A.A.R.I. was created by Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal to bridge the gap between police departments and those struggling with the disease of addiction. Since its founding, police departments in 24 states have joined as partners with the initiative.

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Drug deaths up in Dutchess, soar across state
Joseph Spector and Sean Lahman, Journal Albany Bureau 10:31 p.m. EDT May 25, 2016

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/25/drug-deaths-up-dutchess-soar-across-state/84620926/

The number of accidental drug overdose deaths in Dutchess County jumped 31 percent from 2014 to 2015.

Last year, there were 59 accidental drug overdose deaths investigated by the county's medical examiner's office, 14 more than in 2014, according to the most recent county data available from the Medical Examiner's office.

The number of local accidental overdose deaths has fluctuated in recent years according to the county, up from 36 in 2010, with a high of 63 deaths in 2013.

A second set of statistics specifically regarding opioid-related overdoses from the state Health Department — which tracks information differently from the county — show fatalities among Dutchess residents surged from three in 2003 to 22 in 2007, and increased to 37 in 2013. The state calculates the number of accidental opioid overdoses based on a person's county of residence, according to the department.

The number of opioid-related deaths rose 47 percent across New York between 2010 and 2014, according to the state.

The increase, which is fueled by heroin abuse, is part of a national trend, but the new statistics from the department show just how stark the problem has become across the state, particularly outside New York City.

Dutchess had the highest rate of opioid-related overdose fatalities among its residents from 2009-2013 in counties with 20 or more deaths, at a rate of 5.5 per 100,000 people. Suffolk and Bronx counties were ranked second and third.

“Opioid addiction is a national epidemic that continues to plague families in communities across New York,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said May 10 when he announced a new drug task force.

Indeed, 26 of the state’s 62 counties saw the number of deaths double during the five-year span, according to the state. A total of 5,860 deaths occurred in New York between 2010 and 2014, compared to 2,931 from 2003 through 2007, a review of the data by Gannett’s Albany Bureau showed.

The Dutchess County Health Department said there has been a "consistent increase" in emergency room visits and hospitalizations related to non-fatal heroin overdoses. Between 2010 and 2014, the rate of emergency room visits and hospitalizations among Dutchess residents due to unintentional, non-fatal overdose from heroin “more than tripled” from 11.8 overdoses per 100,000 people to 41.8 overdoses per 100,000 people.

The state Legislature is debating over a package of new bills to address the growing problem before the legislative session ends in mid-June.

A report quietly released by the Health Department this month shows how staggering the heroin and opioid problem has become:

Heroin- related deaths in New York reached 637 in 2013 — a 163 percent increase from 2009.
The percentage of drug-related drugs involving heroin rose from 16 percent in 2009 to 29 percent in 2013.
Naloxone, the heroin antidote, was administered during 12,000 emergency calls in 2014, up a whopping 57 percent from the previous year as it became more available.
Opioid-related emergency department visits increased 73 percent between 2010 to 2014.
Heroin deaths among young people has skyrocketed: Half the deaths in 2013 were among people under 35.

Deaths per day

The numbers are staggering in some places across New York: In 2013, an average of two New Yorkers a day died of heroin-related overdoses, according to the state Health Department, which relies on information from death certificates to maintain drug-related death data. 

Ten counties had a rate of more than 10 deaths for all opioids per 100,000 population in 2014, well exceeding the New York average of 6.7 opioid deaths per 100,000 people, Gannett’s review found.

Sullivan County in the Catskills had 20 deaths per 100,000 people, while Dutchess and Tioga also ranked in the top 10 at 10 deaths per 100,000 people.

In Dutchess, 256 residents died from opioids — which include painkillers — from 2003 through 2014, according to the state

Area troubles

In Ulster County, the deaths jumped from two in 2003 to 34 in 2012. There were 17 in 2014, according to the state.

Monroe County, the deaths increased by 76 percent between 2010 to 2014 — from 34 to 60.

The opioid deaths also increased in the lower Hudson Valley as experts said young people in particular are turning to heroin as a cheaper alternative to other drugs.

Indeed, the heroin deaths among people under age 35 hit 313 in 2013 — nearly triple the number in 2009. Among those deaths, 103 of them were people aged 15-24.

Westchester County had 460 opioid deaths from 2003 through 2014, up 61 percent between 2009 and 2014, the records showed.

Rockland County — had a 56 percent increase to a total of 98 opioid-related deaths since 2003.

John Coppola, executive director of the state Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, said the increases are alarming. He said the state needs to expand its treatment facilities, saying too many addicts can’t get inpatient help.

He said the state should “build a meaningful infrastructure so that we can do prevention treatment and recovery services into the future.”

State support

Sen. Fred Akshar, a former deputy Broome County sheriff, said he initially viewed the drug problem as a law-and-order issue. But now he sees the need for greater treatment and prevention.

“There was a time in my career, in which I felt that enforcing our way out of this issue was the solution, and clearly I was wrong,” Akshar, R-Colesville, Broome County, said.

State officials said it keeps expanding its response to the heroin epidemic, by expanding training, increasing state aid to local agencies and making naloxone more readily available.

The state’s budget for naxolone, for example, has increased from $300,000 a year to $3.5 million over the past two years.

In 2013, the state had 86 community drug prevention and naxolone distribution programs. In 2014, 102 new programs were approved — with another 70 added in 2015, the state report said...

“We’ve made strides,” Sen. David Carlucci, D-Clarktown, Rockland County. “Every time we find an issue, it leads to another issue.”

READ MORE: Heart disease among top health concerns in Dutchess

Poughkeepsie Journal staff writer Nina Schutzman contributed to this report. Joseph Spector is chief of Gannett’s Albany bureau. Sean Lahman is a watchdog reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle who specializes in database analysis.

Accidental opioid overdoses fatalities by year

New York State Health Department totals for opiod-related overdose fatalities in residents of Dutchess and Ulster counties.

Dutchess County

2003 3

2004 2

2005 16

2006 9

2007 22

2008 24

2009 20

2010 32

2011 26

2012 35

2013 37

2014 30