Nassau County Launches New Opioid Task Force

In an effort to fight the ongoing opioid crisis facing Long Island, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced on Thursday the formation of a policy task force that will develop an action plan to address the widespread consequences inflicted by the opioid crisis in the county.

Co-chaired by Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe, the Opioid Crisis Action Plan task force will focus on identifying affected populations, specific community needs and existing barriers to necessary addiction abatement, treatment, and prevention, Curran said. The task force will provide a plan of action for Nassau County after 90 days to collectively respond to these needs.

“As this epidemic continues to devastate families across Nassau and across America, we are gathering our best and brightest to develop a future-focused action plan that will address long-term treatment and education needs in Nassau County,” said Curran. “We cannot wait this crisis out – for every additional life we can save, there is another family that does not have to bury a loved one.”

The task force will include:

• Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder (co-chair)
• Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe (co-chair)
• Nassau County Legislator James Kennedy
• Assistant District Attorney Rene Fiechter, Current Chair of Nassau DA Singas’ Heroin Task Force
• Omayra Perez, Director of Community Services, Nassau County Office of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency, Developmentally Disabled
• Dr. Jennifer Morrison, Superintendent at New Hyde Park-Garden City Park UFSD
• Keith Scott, Director of Education at SAFE Center
• Steve Chassman, Executive Director of Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence
• Jamie Bogenschutz, Executive Director of the YES Counseling Center

“The Nassau County Police continues their fight against all illegal drugs which are destroying our communities and families,” Ryder said. “We have to keep our enforcement strategies prevalent and have to also ensure that all persons suffering from addiction have the best resources available to break the cycle of drug abuse. This is crucial for the success of the task force and our society.”

Among the actions the Opioid Crisis Action Plan task force will complete are:

• Developing a “snapshot” projection of county-wide needs in order to address the long-term impact of the opioid crisis.
• Identifying any necessary new services to respond to program gaps.
• Identify new ways to enhance existing initiatives – including Operation Natalie and the District Attorney’s Heroin Task Force – combating the opioid crisis.
• Engage with community stakeholders to identify existing barriers to prevention and treatment care for opioid addiction.

Last year, Nassau County launched “Operation Natalie” to combat the opioid crisis in honor of Natalie Ciappa, a Nassau teen who died of a drug overdose. This led to Nassau PD’s implementation of the ODMap, which uses real-time reporting to identify clusters of major felonies associated with addicts, such as breaking into cars for money or items to sell. The system then overlays that information with clusters of overdoses.

ODMAP tracks these as they occur, which alerts the police about possible increases in overdoses so they can use this information on enforcement efforts in specific areas.

From 2017 to 2018, the number of fatal overdoses fell 17 percent.