Recommendations Come Forward on How to Better Address Opioid Crisis in Chautauqua County

MAYVILLE – Recommendations on how the county can better address the ongoing opioid epidemic have been made by a county-wide task force.

County executive George Borrello says he recently received the “2018 Summary and Recommendations” from the Countywide Alliance for Enforcement and Rehabilitation (CAER).

CAER was formed by Borrello in January. It focuses on strengthening law enforcement, prevention, education, and treatment services to address the opioid crisis and reverse the number of opioid deaths occurring in Chautauqua County.

According to statistical data compiled by the county health department, from January through September of 2017, Chautauqua County had 29 drug overdose and 32 drug-related deaths.

In comparison, for these same months in 2018, Chautauqua County has seen 10 drug overdose and 13 drug-related deaths.

The report also provides five recommendations for the County Executive to pursue in 2019. These recommendations include:

1. Combining the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force (STRDTF) and the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force. This would create one unified task force that covers all of Chautauqua County where local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies could more effectively work together and share information to arrest drug dealers.
2. Add a Full Time Investigator to the District Attorney’s (DA) Office. This investigator position would assist the DA’s full time narcotics prosecutor with narcotics cases. The investigator would respond to the scenes of overdose deaths to ensure evidence is being properly collected and critical witnesses are being interviewed to allow for the successful prosecution of drug dealers.
3. Transfer the Duties of the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene to the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services. This would provide a unified county department that addresses health and social issues. It would rename the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene to Chautauqua County Community Services and reclassify the current mental hygiene director position. With this transfer of duties, Chautauqua County Community Services could then work to further strengthen drug prevention education programs for our county’s youth, address issues of pregnant mothers giving birth to children who are testing positive for narcotics in their systems, work with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office to implement a drug treatment pod in the jail, and create a pilot program of peer counselors who would follow up with individuals who have been rescued with Narcan.
4. Begin the Process to Research the Potential to Open a Crime Lab in Chautauqua County Servicing the Southern Tier of New York and Areas within the State of Pennsylvania. This would allow the task force to further review the possibility of establishing a crime lab in the county, which would allow evidence to be processed and analyzed quickly for prosecution.
5. Enter into an Agreement with the Erie County, Pennsylvania Coroner’s Office to Share Information Concerning Autopsy Results of Chautauqua County Residents who Die in Erie, PA Area Hospitals. When a Chautauqua County victim of a drug overdose is transferred to Erie, Pennsylvania for treatment and later dies as a result of the overdose, death information is not routinely shared between Erie County and Chautauqua County. By entering into an agreement with Erie County, it would allow local authorities to better conduct investigations against the person who supplied the victim with drugs.

“I applaud the CAER members for what they have accomplished in their first year and I look forward to further reviewing their recommendations on addressing the opioid crisis,” said Borrello.

To view a full copy of CAER’s 2018 Summary and Recommendations report, visit www.co.chautauqua.ny.us/186/County-Executive.