Herbst: Trumbull Will Tackle Heroin Epidemic Head-on

Heroin and other opiates have been killing people at an increasingly alarming rate in Connecticut and across much of the Northeast. The Trumbull community is coming together to tackle the problem on multiple fronts.

Addiction is still largely stigmatized and many people feel uncomfortable talking about what is going on in a community. Trumbull politicians, emergency responders, parents and other community members gathered to openly talk about what is going on in town and what can be done to stem the loss of life.

“Do you put your head in the sand and ignore it or do you take it head on,” First Selectman Tim Herbst said at the meeting.

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Heroin Killing Connecticut Residents At An Alarming Rate

Herbst said one of the worst things to do as a first selectman is to attend the funeral or wake of a young victim of addiction. He addressed the issue of heroin and other opiates recently at Trumbull High School’s graduation.

The town has come up with a multi-pronged approach. The plan is to put school resource officers at the high school and middle schools in the next fiscal year. Herbst added that the town is looking at the possibility of getting state funding to expedite the process.

Police Chief Michael Lombardo said that school resources officers build trusting relationships with students and get to learn and act on problems before they escalate.

Superintendent Dr. Gary Cialfi said that there will be K-9 drug searches at the high school when class and extracurricular activities aren’t in session. The school system will also add more material about drug abuse and addiction to the health curriculum and work on better addressing the mental health issue of drug abuse.

Trumbull Police were recently equipped with Narcan to help reverse overdoses before it’s too late. Having every patrol officer equipped will help give overdose victims a better chance of survival.

Police are working with other local, state and federal law enforcement partners to seize heroin and arrest traffickers and dealers, Lombardo said.

“It’s coming in from other places and that’s what we are trying to tackle,” he said.

He noted that many other communities in Connecticut and across the Northeast are experiencing similar issues.

Most of Trumbull’s property crimes are related to drugs, Lombardo said.

He also advised parents to do what their kids don’t want and be nosy about where they are and who they are with.

Vicki Tesoro with the Trumbull Partnership Against Underage Drinking said that the organization is working on a college transition component to its program offerings. Some attendees at the meeting offered anecdotal reports of how many overdose victims in town fall between the ages of 22 and 25-year-olds.

Herbst complimented TPAUD’s efforts for reducing underage drinking in town and said he had confidence the organization could do the same for heroin use.

Trumbull Police Commission Chairman Jack Testani said it can be difficult to quantify how many Trumbull residents have died from heroin and other opiate overdose deaths. Oftentimes the information about an overdose death doesn’t come out until much later, if at all.

He spoke about a young adult Trumbull native who was a football player and recently died after complications including the chronic use of opiates. 

Photo caption: First Selectman Tim Herbst (right) talks about how to combat heroin use with Police Chief Michael Lombardo (left) and others at a meeting.