142 Fatal Heroin Overdoses in Middlesex County in 2015

WESTFORD, MA — In 2015, State Police said they responded to 755 fatal heroin overdoses—including 142 in Middlesex County.

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Police also responded to 12 homicides in Middlesex County in 2015. The figures were part of year-end data State Police released this week.

Col. Richard McKeon said said heroin abuse ”knows no boundaries.”

“State Police narcotics units continued to conduct numerous significant drug interdiction operations throughout the past year, ranging from street-level arrests to long-term investigations that dismantled sophisticated drug trafficking organizations,” McKeon said in a statement.

Of the 755 heroin overdoses, 591 involved men and 164 involved women. The average age of the victims was 36 years. Here’s the county breakdown:

• Middlesex County, 142
• Essex County, 130
• Bristol County, 108
• Plymouth County, 94
• Norfolk County, 88
• Worcester County, 68 (not including city of Worcester);
• Cape and Islands, 41
• Hampden County, 37 (not including Springfield)
• Suffolk County, 23 (not including Boston)
• Hampshire/Franklin Counties, 18
• Berkshire County, 6 (not including Pittsfield)

Police responded to 64 homicides across the state. Here’s the county breakdown:

• Essex County, 15
• Middlesex County, 12
• Plymouth County, 11
• Bristol County, 9
• Suffolk County, 5 (not including Boston)
• Worcester County, 4 (not including city of Worcester)
• Cape and Islands, 3
• Hampden County, 3 (not including Springfield)
• Norfolk County, 2

State Police also said they made 3,865 OUI arrests in 2015. Here are more statistics:

• The State Police Air Wing has flown 1,306 missions in 2015, including routine patrols, searches for fleeing suspects or missing persons, and overflight support for security at large-scale events and critical incidents;
• The State Police K-9 Section has deployed on 3,113 missions, including tracks of fleeing suspects or missing persons, evidence searches, and patrol and security activities;
• The State Police Underwater Recovery Unit has deployed 240 times, including rescue and recovery dives, evidentiary searches, and security sweeps;
• The State Police Special Tactical Operations Team (STOP Team) deployed for 191 missions, including tactical entries for high risk arrests and search warrants, barricaded armed suspects, and various security operations. The STOP Team also continued its training of local and university police departments throughout Massachusetts in how to respond to active shooter incidents, training 1,489 police personnel from 33 other agencies in 2015.
• The missions by the Air Wing, K-9 Section, STOP Team, and Underwater Recovery Unit were in support of State Police incidents and cases and also in support of numerous local police departments.
• Additionally, a new class of State Police recruits began intensive physical, academic, and procedural training at the department’s Academy in New Braintree this past fall. The nearly 160 trainees will graduate in April.

“I am extremely proud of the strong work done by the members of the Massachusetts State Police throughout the past year,” McKeon said. “The men and women of this department worked around the clock, every day and night, to protect the lives, safety and property of everyone who lives, works and travels through our state. I thank them profusely. We embrace our responsibility to do it all over again in 2016.”