Brick Opioid Overdoses, Deaths Down 35.5% In 2 Years: Police

BRICK, NJ — While the national opioid crisis continues to escalate, Brick Township police say the township is seeing a positive change.

Various programs and efforts to address the crisis, which has repeatedly landed Brick in the top 10 New Jersey towns impacted by opioid abuse, have translated to a significant decline in deaths in the township, Police Chief James Riccio said.

While the nation as a whole saw a major spike in overdose deaths, Brick Township has seen a dramatic decrease. In 2016, there were 203 overdoses, with 30 deaths from overdoses, but in 2018 those numbers fell to 131 overdoses, with 18 deaths from overdoses.

The police department has employed a multifaceted approach to combat the scourge of opiate overdoses with proactive training, education, and the utilization of naloxone to reduce the deaths.

"We’re out here trying to help people," Riccio said.

The efforts include programs like Blue HART, DARE, Not Even Once, Lead and Seed, Neighborhood Watch, senior outreach, and the drug take-back program. There also are education efforts through the Brick Municipal Anti-Drug Coalition, of which Riccio is a member.

"It’s not just Blue Hart, it’s education. We have programs now in the elementary, middle, and high schools. We do senior citizen education and business communities, PTAs," he said.

The police department sees the problem as something that must continue to be addressed, officials said in a news release. The ultimate goal, of course, is no one dying from overdoses.

More information can be found at www.brickpd.com.

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Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff