Public Safety: Minnesota

Minnesota task force aims to alleviate opioid crisis

Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force Commander Jeff Kazel

TOP PHOTO: Duluth, Minn., Police Department and partners have formed the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force to remove illegal firearms and dangerous substances for their communities. Poverty, lack of economic opportunity and access to opioids through the hospital system both play a part in the area’s opioid crisis. (Shutterstock.com)

By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal

The Duluth, Minn., Police Department and partners are coming at an existing problem with a new solution.

Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force is a multijurisdictional task force composed of multiple members from local and national agencies and has implemented practices to take an illegal firearm and keep dangerous substances off the streets.

Task force Commander Jeff Kazel details the size and scope of the problem.

“I started this job as a commander in 2014,” he said. “I knew we knew we had a problem, but we never really had any hard evidence that showed its severity.”

That all changed in 2015, he said, when the medical department of health came out with their statistics for overdose deaths for all the counties the task force members serve. He started pouring over the data and learned St. Louis County had the highest overdose rate per capita in the state. For context, this was higher than Hennepin County and other larger population centers.

Why St. Louis County and why now? Kazel said it’s a perfect storm of factors. Poverty, lack of economic opportunity and access to opioids through the hospital system both play a part.

Despite this grim picture, Kazel said the task force is making progress. Though the name of the initiative has changed since its inception about 20 years ago, it is getting

DPD Overdose Numbers (as of 7/8/2021)

Duluth PD Opiod Overdoses (Year) DPD Number of Narcan Saves (as of 7/8/2021)

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Avg.

Total 42 51 90 105 182 106 174 233 175 122.875

Fatal 1 6 15 12 8 8 15 21 14 10.75 Non-Fatal 41 45 75 93 174 98 159 212 161 112.125 Fatality % 2.3809524 11.764706 16.66667 11.42857 4.395604 7.54717 8.62069 9.01288 8 8.977154

NonFatality% 97.619048 88.235294 83.33333 88.57143 95.6044 92.45283 91.37931 90.9871 92 91.02285

Duluth PD Opiod Overdose Data Only

Non-DPD Narcan Uses

DPD Narcan Uses Total Narcan Use Total ODs % ODs with Narcan Used Duluth PD Opiod Overdoses

Non-DPD Narcan Uses

DPD Narcan Uses Fatalities with Non-DPD Narcan Admin Fatalities with DPD Narcan Admin Total DPD Narcan Saves Total Narcan Saves

Running Total

2013 9 n/a 9 42 21.42857 2014 19 n/a 19 51 37.2549 2015 44 n/a 44 90 48.88889 2016 49 15 64 105 60.95238 2017 75 53 128 182 70.32967 2018 51 15 66 106 62.26415 2019 85 40 125 174 71.83908 2020 113 68 181 233 77.6824 2021 85 35 120 175 68.57143 2013 9 n/a 0 0 n/a 9 2014 19 n/a 0 0 n/a 19 2015 44 n/a 0 0 n/a 44 2016 49 15 2 0 15 62 2017 75 53 2 0 53 126 2018 48 15 3 1 14 59 2019 84 40 7 2 38 115 2020 113 68 7 4 64 170 2021 85 35 3 1 34 116 218 720

Quarters 2019-Q1 2019-Q2 2019-Q3 2019-Q4 2020-Q1 2020-Q2 2020-Q3 2020-Q4 2021-Q1 2021-Q2 2021-Q3

Total 44 30 56 44 57 63 53 60 81 87 7 Fatal ODs 5 0 5 5 5 8 3 5 7 6 1 Non-Fatal ODs 39 30 51 39 52 55 50 55 74 81 6 Narcan Use 22 11 27 25 24 37 25 27 42 41 2 DPD Narcan Use 9 13 13 5 17 10 19 22 13 20 2 Total Narcan Use 31 24 40 30 41 47 44 49 55 61 4

*some fatalities pending toxicology results

recognized for its work. In 2018, it received an initial grant to fund a comprehensive opioid abuse program.

“We ended up hiring what we call an opioid tech, but it’s really a peer recovery specialist. And (then) we started following up on all the reports of overdoses that we had in our task force area.”

Kazel said task force members knew a lot of overdoses were happening because they were responding to them, often using the drug NARCAN to save them. From here, they started to follow up with the patients, offering them services and getting them to pursue comprehensive assessments to get into treatment.

While it’s difficult to quantify success, Kazel said there are certain markers that bode well. For instance, the amount of NARCAN has risen due to the fact the task force is supplying other law enforcement agencies with life-saving intervention.

“Just with our police department alone, we’re at 180 (lives) saved as a result of using NARCAN,” he said.

Speaking of departments, while Kazel said other agencies had some initial reservations about the approach, their skepticism has waned. He attributes that to selecting good hires and the task force’s excellent job communicating with the population.

“Specifically, they’ve made it easier for us to get comprehensive assessments by adding a licensed alcohol and drug counselor to the team. This has streamlined the recovery process for patients,” he said.

In his words, “I think we’ve had better results in that people are deciding whether they want treatment or help. The fact that we’re able to give it to them right away just makes it more convenient and more successful.”

Kazel acknowledges it takes a village to address such a weighty problem as opioid addiction. Fortunately, the task force has strong relationships throughout the community. ABOVE: Duluth, Minn., Police Department has tracked the number of overdoses from 2013 to 2021 and also the number of lives saved with the use of Narcan. (Graph provided)

“We have a really close relationship with the jail,” he said. “The assessments come from the hospitals. They’re starting to get on board and to the point where they know of the good work that our teams are doing. So they’re giving direct referrals for people they know (who) would probably want help and have agreed to have contact with their team. So, we’re working with many different agencies and the community to expand (the program) in our region.”

Beyond the focus on drugs, Kazel draws attention to the violence that often goes hand in glove with drug dealing and use. That’s why the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a member of the task force.

“When you’re talking about money, people are going to protect their investment — an illegal investment,” he said. “And people are prone to using violence to protect their (interests).”

Case in point, Kazel said they confiscated more than 400 firearms during his tenure and expects that number to rise. Also, looking to the future, he said hope is on the horizon that the state will get $50 million over nine years from the settlement of a multistate opioid lawsuit against drug maker Purdue Pharma and its controlling family.

“That money is starting to come in,” he explained. “I think what I would say to the other municipalities is, think about what you’re going to use that money for, because the need for treatment facilities for getting people help is great. We expect some good things to come.”