Paying Attention to the Opioid Crisis

Tom Duggan welcomes 4 local police chiefs to talk about the opioid crisis. The chiefs participating are Chuck Gray from North Andover, Jim Riter from Boxford, Alan DeNaro from Haverhill and Joe Solomon from Methuen. Our host Tom Duggan of the Valley Patriot discusses: There are fewer reported overdoses, but the number is actually going up but is masked by the use of Narcan Can the police send people to treatment? How has the opioid crisis affected Boxford? What is Chief Riter seeing at the high school level? Does Haverhill have to deal more with the gang and distribution problems? Haverhill has doubled the amount of Narcan they carry in cruisers How are things going in Methuen? Is there a correlation between opioid abuse and homelessness? What is Chief Gray seeing with the homeless in North Andover? Is Boxford having any homeless issues? Chief Solomon talks about what Methuen is doing to address the opioid crisis Are things improving with the opioid crisis? Is there a shortage of faith-based rehab facilities? What is the Gloucester Angels program and what problems does it present? Police departments are communicating about overdoses Has anything improved as far as fentanyl goes? What are the biggest crimes going on in Boxford? Does Haverhill have a K9 unit? Why is it so hard to recruit new police officers? Are the police becoming glorified social workers? Does North Andover have any K9 officers? Where do the chiefs see this crisis 5 years from now? How closely do the chiefs work with state and federal agencies? What is the veteran’s court? What are the politics of being a police chief? What advice would the chiefs give to the families with loved ones struggling with addiction? All that and much more on this week’s episode of The Paying Attention Podcast! For more information, check out latest edition of the Valley Patriot or www.ValleyPatriot.com. The Paying Attention! Podcast is recorded each week at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and is hosted on the United Podcast Network.