Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jan 2017
Source: Herald News (West Paterson, NJ)
Copyright: 2017 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.northjersey.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2911
Author: Allison Pries (The Record)

HEROIN BUSTS COME WITH AN OFFER OF DETOX TO HELP BREAK CYCLE OF ADDICTION

One is a former nurse. Another used to be in law enforcement. There were a
recruiter and a graphic designer.

Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal and Bergen County Sheriff Michael
Saudino at the press conference on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

They were among 40 people arrested this week in an investigation led by
the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to combat the area's "staggering"
heroin epidemic.

This time, after arresting the alleged users for drug possession,
detectives offered them help -- the chance to enter a five-day detox
program run by Bergen County Regional Medical Center. Twelve people
accepted.

Acting Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced details of the initiative
Thursday in a midday news conference at the Bergen County Prosecutor's
Office. A handful of detectives who participated lined one wall of the
conference room. Grewal stood behind a lectern, flanked by Bergen County
Sheriff Michael Saudino, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco and Michael
Paolello, executive director of the Evergreen Treatment Center at Bergen
Regional Medical Center.

Grewal said the task force, dubbed Operation Helping Hand, was the "first
of its kind" in New Jersey, and perhaps the country.

The joint law-enforcement and public-health initiative was a collaboration
between the Prosecutor's Office, the Bergen County sheriff, the Bergen
County executive and the medical center.

"It's our hope that by at least having this option open for them to enter
into a detox bed that they can then transition into long-term treatment,"
Grewal said.

Grewal, a former federal prosecutor, said that after being sworn in last
January as acting Bergen County prosecutor it was "eye opening" when he
began receiving daily reports about overdoses and the deployment of
Narcan, a drug used by law enforcement to counteract the effects of heroin
during an overdose.

"I don't know another way to put it," Grewal said. "The problem is
overwhelming and it's staggering. And it's forced us to do things that we
don't ordinarily do as law enforcement officers."

So far this year, 158 heroin or opioid-related overdoses have been
reported, with 48 being fatal. In 2015, 231 overdoses were reported, and
87 of them were fatal.

Narcan was deployed by police 187 times in 2015, saving 170 lives. In 2016
Narcan has been used 137 times, saving 124 lives.

The municipalities hit the hardest with overdoses in 2015 were Garfield
with 23, Lyndhurst with 20, Fort Lee and Lodi, both with 15, and Cliffside
Park with 14.

"There is no pocket of Bergen County that's immune from what's happening,"
Grewal said.

Grewal said he knew this wasn't a problem law enforcement could arrest its
way out of. "But we need to arrest people to get intelligence," Grewal
said. Where is heroin being sold, who's selling it, how much does it cost
and where are dealers doing transactions?

"We need to address heroin in the county not just as a law enforcement
problem but a public health problem as well aE& to break that cycle of
arrest, overdose, Narcan save, overdose, arrest, fatality that we continue
to see," Grewal said. "If we can get one person out of that cycle aE&
that's success."

Over the last several months, as Operation Helping Hand got under way,
detox beds were set aside while law enforcement arrested users and
targeted areas where heroin is sold.

Two shifts of detectives set out on Sunday, and in the days since, to
known open-air drug markets around North Jersey and focused on users who
were bringing heroin back to Bergen County. A total of 40 people, all but
three of whom live in Bergen County, were stopped and arrested for
possession of drugs, issued summonses and told of the available beds at
Bergen Regional. Detectives then drove them to the hospital if they chose
that option.

"It wasn't in lieu of a criminal charge," Grewal said. "We made it very
clear to these individuals that they were going to be charged and they
were going to go through the criminal justice system" but help for their
addiction was available if they wanted it.

Operation Helping Hand was expected to last until today, and fill 10 beds
at Bergen Regional. But it concluded Thursday when every bed that was set
aside was taken, plus another bed that became available. A 12th person, a
woman, is in the detox unit at the Bergen County Jail.

"This initiative was so successful that we ran out of beds before we could
conclude our program," Grewal said.

Officials could not identify which of the 40 people arrested elected to go
to detox because of privacy laws.

Most of those arrested are unemployed. Some work as carpenters,
electricians and masons. Several have served in the military. And they
range in age from 21 to 58.

Officers picked them up after they traveled the Route 21 corridor from
Newark, or from Paterson or Passaic to allegedly obtain drugs, Grewal
said.

The arrests were made in Elmwood Park (15), Fair Lawn (10), Hackensack
(3), Rutherford (2), Saddle Brook (2), Englewood (1), Lyndhurst (1),
Maywood (1), Montvale (1), Paramus (1), Ridgefield (1), Waldwick (1) and
Wallington (1).

The sheriff said the number of arrests weren't important.

"It's a quality-of-life issue," Saudino said. "It's getting help to those
who need the help. There are a lot of people who want help but don't know
how to get it."

Tedesco announced that Bergen Regional, which is owned by the county but
privately run, will add eight more medical detox beds in the next couple
of weeks, bringing its capacity to 82 beds -- more than any other facility
in the state.

The additional beds will be reassigned from other areas of the hospital
where they are not being used.

"This represents another positive step in our collective fight against the
heroin and opioid epidemic," Tedesco said.

Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal and Bergen County Sheriff Michael
Saudino at the press conference on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

One is a former nurse. Another used to be in law enforcement. There were a
recruiter and a graphic designer.

They were among 40 people arrested this week in an investigation led by
the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to combat the area's "staggering"
heroin epidemic.

This time, after arresting the alleged users for drug possession,
detectives offered them help -- the chance to enter a five-day detox
program run by Bergen County Regional Medical Center. Twelve people
accepted.

Acting Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced details of the initiative
Thursday in a midday news conference at the Bergen County Prosecutor's
Office. A handful of detectives who participated lined one wall of the
conference room. Grewal stood behind a lectern, flanked by Bergen County
Sheriff Michael Saudino, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco and Michael
Paolello, executive director of the Evergreen Treatment Center at Bergen
Regional Medical Center.

Grewal said the task force, dubbed Operation Helping Hand, was the "first
of its kind" in New Jersey, and perhaps the country.

The joint law-enforcement and public-health initiative was a collaboration
between the Prosecutor's Office, the Bergen County sheriff, the Bergen
County executive and the medical center.

"It's our hope that by at least having this option open for them to enter
into a detox bed that they can then transition into long-term treatment,"
Grewal said.

Grewal, a former federal prosecutor, said that after being sworn in last
January as acting Bergen County prosecutor it was "eye opening" when he
began receiving daily reports about overdoses and the deployment of
Narcan, a drug used by law enforcement to counteract the effects of heroin
during an overdose.

"I don't know another way to put it," Grewal said. "The problem is
overwhelming and it's staggering. And it's forced us to do things that we
don't ordinarily do as law enforcement officers."

So far this year, 158 heroin or opioid-related overdoses have been
reported, with 48 being fatal. In 2015, 231 overdoses were reported, and
87 of them were fatal.

Narcan was deployed by police 187 times in 2015, saving 170 lives. In 2016
Narcan has been used 137 times, saving 124 lives.

The municipalities hit the hardest with overdoses in 2015 were Garfield
with 23, Lyndhurst with 20, Fort Lee and Lodi, both with 15, and Cliffside
Park with 14.

"There is no pocket of Bergen County that's immune from what's happening,"
Grewal said.

Grewal said he knew this wasn't a problem law enforcement could arrest its
way out of. "But we need to arrest people to get intelligence," Grewal
said. Where is heroin being sold, who's selling it, how much does it cost
and where are dealers doing transactions?

"We need to address heroin in the county not just as a law enforcement
problem but a public health problem as well aE& to break that cycle of
arrest, overdose, Narcan save, overdose, arrest, fatality that we continue
to see," Grewal said. "If we can get one person out of that cycle aE&
that's success."

Over the last several months, as Operation Helping Hand got under way,
detox beds were set aside while law enforcement arrested users and
targeted areas where heroin is sold.

Two shifts of detectives set out on Sunday, and in the days since, to
known open-air drug markets around North Jersey and focused on users who
were bringing heroin back to Bergen County. A total of 40 people, all but
three of whom live in Bergen County, were stopped and arrested for
possession of drugs, issued summonses and told of the available beds at
Bergen Regional. Detectives then drove them to the hospital if they chose
that option.

"It wasn't in lieu of a criminal charge," Grewal said. "We made it very
clear to these individuals that they were going to be charged and they
were going to go through the criminal justice system" but help for their
addiction was available if they wanted it.

Operation Helping Hand was expected to last until today, and fill 10 beds
at Bergen Regional. But it concluded Thursday when every bed that was set
aside was taken, plus another bed that became available. A 12th person, a
woman, is in the detox unit at the Bergen County Jail.

"This initiative was so successful that we ran out of beds before we could
conclude our program," Grewal said.

Officials could not identify which of the 40 people arrested elected to go
to detox because of privacy laws.

Most of those arrested are unemployed. Some work as carpenters,
electricians and masons. Several have served in the military. And they
range in age from 21 to 58.

Officers picked them up after they traveled the Route 21 corridor from
Newark, or from Paterson or Passaic to allegedly obtain drugs, Grewal
said.

The arrests were made in Elmwood Park (15), Fair Lawn (10), Hackensack
(3), Rutherford (2), Saddle Brook (2), Englewood (1), Lyndhurst (1),
Maywood (1), Montvale (1), Paramus (1), Ridgefield (1), Waldwick (1) and
Wallington (1).

The sheriff said the number of arrests weren't important.

"It's a quality-of-life issue," Saudino said. "It's getting help to those
who need the help. There are a lot of people who want help but don't know
how to get it."

Tedesco announced that Bergen Regional, which is owned by the county but
privately run, will add eight more medical detox beds in the next couple
of weeks, bringing its capacity to 82 beds -- more than any other facility
in the state.

The additional beds will be reassigned from other areas of the hospital
where they are not being used.

"This represents another positive step in our collective fight against the
heroin and opioid epidemic," Tedesco said.
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