The number of overdose calls is rising, and police officials from across the county want it to stop.
Across the county, law enforcement responded to 273 calls labeled as overdoses in 2021, along with 78 other agency assist calls that had the word overdose somewhere in the call notes. Agency assist means law enforcement assisted another agency, such as a fire department, with a call.
During the first quarter of this year, police have responded to at least 53 calls labeled as overdoses, and 10 agency assist calls with “overdose” in the call notes. During the same period last year, law enforcement responded to 53 overdose calls, and 9 agency assists, a difference of one call each, according to data from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
The call data is not a fully complete picture, however, as it is not guaranteed that every overdose is reported as such to 911 dispatchers. Additionally, officers and deputies are often not involved after the initial medical call unless narcotics are found, said Andrew Barnhart, chief deputy.
Law enforcement officials expect the number of overdose calls to only get worse from here, they say.
“It’s unacceptable,” Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said about the increase in overdoses.
Burgess has been in law enforcement for over 30 years, but the current spike in overdoses is different compared to what he has seen before. It makes him sick to see what is happening in the county, he said.
Last weekend, the family of one of Burgess’ friends was affected by an overdose. Burgess knew one of their children, and the child overdosed on drugs, he said.
“It stays with you. What do you do to stop this? I wish I had a good answer and approach, but we don’t,” Burgess said.
Escalating problem
The drug problem impacts the community as a whole, but it is especially devastating for the families that are affected by it directly. During a drug roundup on March 16, police officials noted that the folks overdosing in the county are our mothers, fathers, and children, said Scott Summers, Franklin police deputy chief.
“It’s completely devastating. It’s tragic; people are dying,” Summers said. “It’s a cost financially, and a mental toll on the people themselves and the people close to them.”
In 2021, there were 45 deaths attributed to overdoses. So far this year, there have been at least 13, 11 of which have tested positive for fentanyl, said Mike Pruitt, county coroner.
At this time last year, there were 12 deaths, he said.
The deaths are affecting families of all types, regardless of age, stature or financial status. It’s heart-wrenching to see people hooked on these narcotics, Burgess said.
Law enforcement works diligently to get the drugs off the street, but at the current rates, the number of overdoses will be either at or above last year’s totals, Summer said. Franklin police reported 42 overdoses last year and has reported 11 this year as of April 20, data shows.
Last year alone, Greenwood reported 108 overdoses — 40% of the total number of overdoses reported in the county in 2021. Four of these were fatal. This year, the city of more than 61,000 has reported 20 overdoses so far, with three fatalities as of April 12, data shows.
Officials in smaller towns, such as Bargersville and Whiteland, have also responded to and reported overdoses. Bargersville police had 13 overdose calls last year, and one call this year as of April 13. Whiteland had 10 overdose calls last year but has not had any overdose calls so far this year, as of April 19, data shows.
Getting help
Burgess has seen many parents try to help their kids by getting them into a treatment center, but they don’t always stick to recovery. There also are people who believe that carrying naloxone, also known as Narcan, can stop people from using drugs again, but that is not correct, he said.
Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose until a person can receive medical help.
“You’ve got users carrying Narcan just so they can live another day and utilize the narcotics,” Burgess said. “Just because someone has used Narcan, it doesn’t mean they’ll stop using narcotics.”
First responders do utilize Narcan to help with stopping overdoses, and many officers do carry it with them on the streets to aid those overdosing. The sheriff’s office has a partnership with Johnson Memorial Hospital to obtain Narcan, and while deputies are not doctors, it has saved people’s lives, Burgess said.
“It’s another tool in our toolbox we can utilize,” he said. “It’s a medication we can legally give to them.”
Greenwood officers reported using Narcan 16 times in 2021, all of which were successful at bringing the patient back. So far this year, police have used the drug six times, all successful as well, data shows.
Data from Franklin police shows a similar picture. Officers used Narcan 18 times in 2021, all of which successfully brought the patient back. As of April 20, officers have only used Narcan twice, both times being successful, data shows.
Searching for a solution
While it’s great that Narcan has helped save lives, it’s only the beginning. Treatment and reintegration back into society for those who are addicted is also needed, Summers said.
Police throughout the county also try to do as much as they can to make a case on the drug dealers that may have caused the death of someone who overdosed, but it’s not easy. A lot of the time, drug users have more than one dealer, leaving detectives to have to sift through all of them to find who is ultimately responsible, Burgess said.
Recently, Burgess has asked his deputies to send samples of the drugs they find to state labs to see if has a similar chemical composition to other drug evidence. The approach is an attempt to see if there’s a way to make a case against a particular dealer. He also plans to work with state legislators to see what could be done to have less of a burden to prosecute these cases, he said.
“I want to put these dealers in jail for a long time,” Burgess said.
Law enforcement agencies from across the county are working together to build these cases against dealers. The sheriff’s office, along with Franklin and Greenwood police, work together and have assigned three officers from each agency to work a narcotics task force to try to take dealers off the street, Burgess said.
For a department the size of Franklin’s, with 53 budgeted officers, the department has dedicated a tremendous amount of resources to the drug problem. The three officers assigned to the narcotics task force are full-time investigators that work solely on narcotics problems. Those officers currently have 35 active cases, and whenever one is completed, they move on to the next one, Summers said.
Right now, the sheriff’s office also has three or four agencies that have called to ask for help with their narcotics cases. These agencies, like the sheriff’s office, and Franklin and Greenwood police, are struggling to make the same cases against dealers. They are also working with federal and state partners to put drug cases together, Burgess said.
Law enforcement officials encourage residents to contact the police if they see illegal activity. While it could be considered a cliche, if people see something, they should say something. Police often get leads from the public they might not otherwise get, Summers said.
“Sometimes we just need that spark of information that can snowball into a good investigation,” Summers said. “We are all in this together, and the police, we’ll never be able to effectively combat this problem without the help of concerned citizens. Give us a tip. It may take a while to work, but it could get fruitful results.”
Communication is key, especially when it comes to stopping these dealers, Burgess said.
“If you suspect someone is dealing narcotics out of their house, we will try out best to get in there … and put that individual in jail,” Burgess said. “Then we will try to track where they are getting their dope and get them in jail too.”
