Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
What started as a nasty prescription pill problem several years ago has grown into a heroin epidemic in Bucks County, officials said at a press conference in Doylestown.
Members of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office gathered regional media outlets Friday afternoon and announced several options for residents to anonymously submit drug tips. Discussions also talked about stepping up police efforts to curb heroin use.
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Assistant District Attorney Matt Weintraub said the district attorney’s office and police throughout the county are “trying to meet the problem head on.” In turn, county law enforcement has drawn up an eight-point plan.
As part of the plan to crack down on heroin coming into Bucks County, the drug task force, which is made up of law enforcement from numerous agencies, will begin investigating and arresting those outside of Bucks County who are selling drugs to local residents. Weintraub said the goal is to get the message that Bucks County is not the place to sell drugs to the streets. The assistant district attorney declined to elaborate on the tactics authorities would use and whether they would involve out of county undercover stings.
New tiplines and public information posters that will be distributed to schools, hospitals and police are also part of the plan.
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There are three new ways to submit drug tips anonymously:
- Text the word “BUCKSDRUGTIPS” and your tip to TIP411 (847411)
- Email: drugtips@co.bucks.pa.us
- Call: 215-345-DRUG
Authorities said they hope to create more open communication in local law enforcement. County officials will be bringing 9-1-1 dispatchers, local police and the coroner on board and provide them with ways to more easily share information.
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A database is being created by county officials that will help police track information on overdoses and drug-related incidents.
More training for investigators was another step Weintraub and District Attorney David Heckler laid out. The men said they need local police to investigate every overdose as a crime. Prosecutors cited recent laws that allow them to go after dealers who sold drugs to a person who then died of an overdose.
“It comes as no news to anybody that our nation is being flooded with heroin,” Heckler said.
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Officials said heroin has grown in popularity because it is a cheaper alternative to expensive prescription narcotics. They also noted federal officials have told them the Philadelphia area has been blasted with an influx of heroin in recent years.
The district attorney’s office revealed the number of heroin overdose deaths in the county has doubled since 2012. Two deaths in Central Bucks County and several non-fatal overdoses have been reported just in the past several weeks.
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Police in the Lower Bucks County area told LevittownNow.com earlier this week that the rise in heroin use has led to an increase in property crimes. Officials in other parts of the county have echoed similar statements.
Weintraub said heroin is “blind to economic status” and is impacting every part of the county.
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Heckler reminded the public to “get the heck rid” of unused prescription medications if they are not using them before they get in the wrong hands. He noted residents can drop the unwanted narcotics at most local police stations or at the upcoming drug takeback day.
“There are no old junkies,” Weintraub said. “They turn into ex-junkies or dead junkies.”
