During my nearly 23 years serving the residents of Cayuga County as a law enforcement officer with our sheriff’s office, I have seen a number of drug trends come and go.
With each drug of abuse that has come to be most prevalent during a particular time in our community, I have watched the devastation that is caused by addiction — not only to the person who has lost the ability to stop using the substance of abuse, but in all too many cases to their families and friends who try so hard to help the person they care about find a path to sobriety and recovery. I have also witnessed the negative impact of crime on innocent victims perpetrated by those engaged in criminal activity to support expensive addiction habits.
In recent years, our local community has become all too familiar with the latest drug of abuse. The current opioid epidemic, or heroin epidemic, has touched the lives of so many in Cayuga County and beyond. Opiate abuse, just like other drugs of abuse, has torn families and friendships apart, caused an increase in crime, and created a public health nightmare. Worst of all, opiate abuse has taken numerous lives as many became trapped in this drug’s evil grip and could not stop before it was too late.
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During my career, my experience has taught me that law enforcement efforts alone cannot fix any drug problem, including our current opiate dilemma. While identifying and holding drug dealers accountable is an important piece of solving this problem, there also needs to be a continued effort to prevent addiction before it starts as well as provide treatment and recovery services for those who are struggling.
In an effort to further our local treatment and recovery efforts, the dedicated staff of our sheriff’s office and I have begun to work on a number of initiatives at the Cayuga County Jail. Our focus is to combat our drug problem and prevent crime by working with inmates struggling with opiate addiction to give them the tools to find a path to sobriety and recovery. We are also working to save lives and prevent overdoses by teaching these same inmates how to prepare and respond to an overdose emergency.
In the past year we have brought volunteer staff into the jail to provide Narcotics Anonymous meetings to our inmates in an effort to help them prepare and learn that they do have support and that a sober life outside the facility upon release is possible. Peer support and addiction counselors have also been brought into the facility to work with inmates prior to release. This has given them a head start on treatment and early peer support that has come with great success. Most recently, we have begun providing training to inmates upon release on the use of Narcan so they can help reverse a deadly opiate overdose. Along with this training, each inmate is provided with Narcan. The risk of relapse and overdose is high upon release from jail. By providing this training and lifesaving drug, we are helping to save lives and increase the chances that the person finds a successful path to recovery. I am proud of the work that the members of our sheriff’s office and our community partners are doing to combat addiction, both inside and outside our facility.
Our current COVID-19 pandemic has made our work a bit more challenging as we have had to temporarily limit some of our outside volunteers, therapists and peer support providers from coming to the jail in person; however, we have been utilizing technology to connect inmates with these services and provide training. Moving forward, we will continue to identify new ways to use technology to keep our inmates and providers connected. The sheriff’s office is participating in the HEALing Communities Study, a community-driven approach to addressing our opiate problem that is currently underway in Cayuga County. Partnering with many community agencies that are working towards the goal of combating addiction and utilizing the resources that are provided through this study, I am confident that we will have a positive impact and continue to bring further innovative ways to battle addiction to our sheriff’s office and save lives.
"With the disease we have, we can't just put everything on pause."
Brian Schenck is the Cayuga County sheriff and can be reached at sheriff@cayugacounty.us. He is also a steering committee member of the HEALing Communities Study, a multi-year, multi-state research study to reduce opioid overdose deaths through the implementation of evidence-based practices. If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, call (315) 253-1522 or email msalvage@cayugacounty.us.