opioid crisis | Assessment Services Review

Public Safety Voices | Sheriff Joel Merry

The opioid epidemic and succession planning are my two top concerns right now.

In Sagadahoc County, the opioid epidemic is of real concern. There are a lot of issues related to it that require a great deal of our time, from the number of calls we take regarding overdoses, to investigators working on trafficking cases, dealing with the number of people in our jails who are addicted and getting folks into treatment and recovery – it’s a lot for any department.

Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel A. Merry | Image: Bangor Daily News

Succession planning is my top human resources issue. Retirement is the main reason we’re losing people, though we recently lost two transport deputies to the private sector. On the patrol side, we’ve had a very stable workforce, but we do have some pending retirements. This concerns me due to what my fellow law enforcement administrators are going through with recruiting. It’s a real concern. When I started my career in law enforcement 35 years ago, it was so competitive that I didn’t get my first two attempts.

We’re answering the call with life-saving aid, aggressive tactics, education and recovery.

Sagadahoc County is one of the first agencies to start carrying Narcan in Maine. We did this because we service a lot of small rural communities where EMS are 15-30 minutes away. Having a deputy with AEDs and Narcan can save a life.

The other thing we’ve done is get more aggressive on the law enforcement side trying to eradicate the traffickers and educate the public. We’ve trained patrol in interdiction strategies and we work closely with MDEA (Maine Drug Enforcement Administration) on public awareness, as well as some diversion tactics.

The tactic I’m most proud of is one where we connect people with a recovery coach and group counseling. Our programs deputy carries a caseload of 7-15 folks who are required to check in every night and meet with him face-to-face once a week. They are also subject to random drug testing and need to be employed or looking. We want to hold them accountable. It’s another level of probation and provides additional support to the probation office to help keep them on the right track.

Thinking ahead, we’re providing leadership training, adding specializations, and performing youth outreach.

Everyone who applies for a promotional position gets to attend a leadership training program through Granite State Police Career Counseling. It consists of a one-day leadership course and a three-day course on supervision, teaching them what supervision is within an agency, what does it mean and how will your role change as a supervisor.

Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Dept. attending a You Matter event at Woolwich Central School. The officers greet students as they arrive.

We’re also adding in some specializations to build skills and to help keep our deputies interested in this agency. To that end, we recently restarted a K-9 program, and we have another deputy who is specializing in accident reconstruction.

We have done some youth outreach, including Project ALERT, which is similar to DARE. Prevention work is something I would like to do more of. I’ve toyed with the idea of a visitation program such as deputies stopping by schools to say hello and have lunch with the kids.

9/11 was a defining moment in my career.

One of the defining moments of my career came when I was a lieutenant with the Bath Police Department. My chief at the time was away attending the FBI academy, which corresponded with 9/11. A lot of things were fast moving. There were so many unknowns: are we a target, are we next?

The USS Zumwalt at Bath Iron Works. Image: Bangor Daily News

In Bath we have Bath Iron Works, which is a major U.S. shipyard and producer of naval ships. We had a lot of protocols around that – we had to provide guards 24/7 to protect the military assets. We were working very closely with neighboring law enforcement departments and built strong partnerships during that time.

Working with other agencies in both the private and public sector, I had to learn a lot of communication skills very quickly and make sure information was being shared — that I was communicating with all stakeholders. I had to focus. It provided me with insight into what leadership needs to be: As a leader, you have to be thinking about the now and what happens tomorrow at the same time.

We care.

What is the one thing I’d want our community to know about law enforcement? We care. We really do care about the health and well-being of our community.

Our communities are a great place to live, work and play, and as members of law enforcement, we work hard to keep them as safe as possible so people can live without fear and enjoy their lives.

-Sheriff Joel Merry, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, Maine

By Jenny Donovan|2019-04-22T12:50:51-04:00April 23rd, 2019|Police-Community Relations, Public Safety Voices, Recruitment, Succession Planning in Public Safety|1 Comment

Public Safety Voices | Sheriff Ty Trenary

Creativity is key to meeting the challenges we face.

We’re facing four major challenges – all equally big. First, we’re one of the top five fastest growing counties in the country, and we’re having a hard time keeping up with that growth. We’re not currently staffed appropriately to provide the level of service we’d like to. Most days it feels like we’re throwing mud on the wall and seeing what sticks. We’re working with other elected officials on growth, helping them see why we need add staff, but it has been and continues to be a serious challenge.

We also police the transit system. Plus, a new commercial airport is set to open where Boeing is, and we have to police that also. We have got to staff up to these changes, and it’s been a challenge, especially in the current climate. We’ve had to become a lot of more engaged with the community and connect with youth.

Then come the big three: mental illness, homelessness, and the opioid crisis. All three affect how we manage policing. We’re constantly thinking about how to keep everyone safe and in the loop. These issues create challenges that force us to look beyond traditional policing. How do we retool ourselves?

We’re in the midst of a public health crisis: 60-70 percent of our inmate pop have reported metal illness in the last five years. The Snohomish County Jail isn’t staffed for or designed to be a mental health hospital. We can’t use the jail in this way. People aren’t getting the help they need. We can’t make them healthy and are thus sending them back out with same issues. We’ve enhanced our medical staff, brought in outside vendors, we use Facetime for therapy with outside providers, and partnered with the state to bring folks in part-time. But the state is backlogged.

And there’s the opioid crisis. Over 90 percent of our homeless population is suffering from an addiction or mental health issue. Some of our deputies are partnered with social workers, and they’re going out to homeless camps to try to figure out who needs help with addiction and get them treatment.

This is a nationwide crisis that’s on everyone’s mind; everyone wants to talk about it, and it’s going to be here for a while. The thing I’m proud of are the changes we’ve made: a pair of handcuffs and a trip to jail doesn’t work with this crisis. It won’t get us out of this. People say “take them to jail” all the time, but when we give people a hand up, we connect with them, we get them help, they’re not in our system anymore.

Ours is the one business that doesn’t want repeat customers. It’s not fair that we have to fix it, but nontraditional methods are working. We’re trying to be creative as we can. I deal with a lot of people — good families — who are dealing with this. These are human beings. We don’t choose who we protect and serve, it’s everybody.

Over 30 years in law enforcement has taught me a lot.

I’m getting ready to start my 32^nd year in this profession. Back when I joined the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy, I was chosen to be part of a community policing program. My experience with that program is something that has stuck with me and set me on a path toward working very closely with the community. I learned a lot from it. For example, I learned the importance of saying, “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have done that.” And I’ve learned the importance of sitting with people and working together to find solutions.

Our motto is “community first,” and it’s the defining value of my career.

We understand our role as law enforcement; it’s a very honorable but contentious task.

If there’s one thing I’d like the people of Snohomish County to know about our job, it’s that we understand our role. We’re very fortunate to live in a community that supports law enforcement, and in turn we work really, really hard to reduce crime and be engaged in the community.

Every single day we work to engage and connect — and take our lumps when we need to. We don’t ever lose sight of that. Our is a very honorable but contentious task, and we have to be compassionate in everything we do.

-Sheriff Trenary, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Washington

By Jenny Donovan|2018-10-03T16:52:23-04:00October 4th, 2018|Public Safety Voices|Comments Off

Public Safety Voices | Police Chief James Abbott

There are three major challenges we’re facing right now.

“Race relations, the opioid epidemic and active shooter situations: those are the three major challenges we’re dealing with right now. To address race relations, the township created a Human Relations Commission (HRC), and we have an officer who serves as both our bias investigations officer and as a liaison to the HRC. We also conduct implicit bias training and officer wellness training.

“We’ve also modified our training to include shoot don’t shoot programs. Instead of going in and shooting at a paper target, we work on when it’s appropriate to shoot or not shoot – and once again work on implicit bias awareness.

“Operation Hope is our program for combating the opioid epidemic. This program started when we lobbied for, and subsequently passed, legislation that allows people to surrender drugs without legal consequences. We then get them into detox and a rehabilitation program. If they need help paying for treatment, we can help them with that, too. We do everything we can to keep it in the social service arena and out of the criminal justice system.

“To protect the public from active shooter situations, we partnered with the DOD (Department of Defense) and received a half-million dollars in grants to run active shooter trainings. These drills are coordinated with our federal, state and county law enforcement partners and have been a viable tool in showing us what we’re doing right, what we’re doing wrong and how to do things better.

“All of these challenges require a different mindset among police agencies. We’re constantly evolving to stay in front of the curve.”

Few officers get to lead an agency in their career.

“There have been so many rewarding moments in my nearly 40-year career, but by far the most rewarding was taking the oath and being given the opportunity to lead this agency [West Orange Police Department].

“Yes, I was appointed by elected officials, but those elected officials were put in office by the people. My appointment to chief therefore reflects the confidence of the public. That’s something I take very seriously.

“So few officers get to lead an agency in their career. I’m very privileged to be one of them.”

The badge we wear is a symbol of the public’s trust.

“Young police officers today seem to grasp the concept that it is a privilege – not a right – to serve. The badge we wear is a symbol of the trust given us by the public, and we appreciate that the public has given us that confidence.

“It’s a tremendous amount of responsibility. Integrity is indispensable, as are training, education and the experience of not only learning from within [your own agency] but taking notice of what occurs in other agencies – both good and bad.

“We’re always striving to be at the forefront, to figure out how we can do things better. From traffic accidents to demonstrations, we’re always asking ourselves: How can we do this better?”

–Chief James Abbott, West Orange Police Department, New Jersey

By Jenny Donovan|2018-05-15T15:08:00-04:00May 15th, 2018|Public Safety Voices|Comments Off