FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2016
Contact: Jennifer Kaulius
802.324.2505
City, Region’s Leaders Act to Reverse Opiate Challenge
Police Chief’s Report Documents Rise in Overdoses, Related Crime and Proposes New Approaches;
UVM Medical Center & Howard Center Note Progress Improving Treatment Options;
Commissioner Chen Offers Resources & Guidance for Parents
Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger and Police Chief Brandon del Pozo today presented the community with a report on law enforcement efforts to reduce opiate trafficking and use in Burlington. They were joined by University of Vermont Medical Center President Dr. John Brumsted and Vermont Department of Health (VDH) Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen, who along with many community partners, have taken a number of steps recently to improve treatment options for those struggling with addiction in Burlington.
“Our City faces a serious and growing but manageable opiate challenge,” said Mayor Weinberger. “Through sustained commitment to on-the-ground community policing and better coordination among all law enforcement and public health agencies engaged in addressing opiate abuse, we will turn back this trend.”
Key findings of tonight’s update included:
- Opiate overdoses and related crime have been incrementally building for over three years:
- Overdoses in 2015 were up 103 percent over the 2012 – 2014 three-year average.
- Robbery, Larceny from Buildings, and Retail Theft rose 31 percent, 11 percent, and 15 percent respectively over the three year average in 2015.
- Chief del Pozo announced a series of new BPD initiatives, in collaboration with State and community partners, to reverse this trend including:
- Increased foot patrols sustained by staffing levels maintained at 100 officers (in prior years the total number of police has fluctuated five to ten officers below this threshold).
- Stepped up coordination between law enforcement and other agencies, including structured collaboration models like VDH’s “HealthStat” or Project Vision in Rutland.
- Dr. John Brumsted, President of UVM Medical Center, reviewed recent progress the region has made in providing improved treatment options:
- UVM Medical Center opened “Day One” last week to increase the flow of patients to primary care settings.
- UVM Medical Center also has supported training more primary care physicians to prescribe treatment to those struggling with addiction, and has worked with community partners to improve coordination managing patient flow.
- Commissioner Chen reported on the perspective of the State, advice to parents, and efforts to reduce prescription opiate abuse:
- The Vermont Department of Health’s creation of ParentUp (http://ParentUpvt.org), which offers resources to parents to help prevent children from using opiates and other drugs.
- Proper guidelines for handling prescription medications.
- Protocol for identifying and treating overdose patients.
- Since October 2015, the waiting list for opiate treatment has been reduced from 284 individuals to 234 last week, as reported by the Howard Center.
Background on tonight’s report
The impetus for tonight’s community update comes from three separate but related events in recent months:
- On September 1, 2015, Mayor Weinberger announced at Chief del Pozo’s swearing-in ceremony that he had directed Chief del Pozo to review Burlington’s response to the opiate challenge and to report back with recommendations.
- On September 8, 2015, the City Council passed a resolution on drug trafficking calling for the exploration of a police sub-station on North Avenue and the potential application of a common nuisance ordinance.
- Since October, at the initiation of State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan and with the support of Governor Peter Shumlin, a group has been meeting regularly in the Mayor’s Office to reduce the size of the opiate treatment waiting list. That group has included:
- State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan
- UVM Medical Center President and CEO Dr. John Brumsted
- UVM Medical Center President and COO Eileen Whalen, RN
- Howard Center CEO Bob Bick
- Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Sue Allen
- Green Mountain Care Board Chair Al Gobeille
- U.S. Attorney Eric Miller
- Department of Children and Families Commissioner Ken Schatz
- Department of Corrections Commissioner Lisa Menard
- Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo
*Please see attached Opiate Report.
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