Today's Heroin Problem - Another Great Job LFD, LPD, RTA

[Jim O'Bryan]

Yep, you read that right.


RTA pulled over at Riverside and Detroit in a desperate effort to save a man's life that was ODing.

Yep, around 2pm, a call went out that a male had passed out on a westbound RTA and help was needed. As he stopped breathing it got bad.


The RTA double bus pulls over just as Lakewood Fire Department and Lakewood Police converge on the scene.


Bystanders thought it might have been a fight, or food illness. All I could think, "Dorthy we are not in Kansas anymore..."

FWIW I have not ever thought that Lakewood Police, Lakewood Fire, the County Corner, or the Heroin Task Force have ever tried to hide their numbers. Everyone I have ever spoken with in the past 5 years will tell you as seriously as they can. "People are not talking about this enough." The only way we beat this problem is through conversation, and public awareness.

Starting to mess about with Heroin is not experimenting, or searching. It is usually a one way passage to a life of misery, desperation and death.

Thank you Lakewood Police and Fire, for caring and swift action. It has to be getting painful.

Tip of the hat to RTA for taking swift action and noticing.

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[mjkuhns]

Everyone I have ever spoken with in the past 5 years will tell you as with as seriously as they can. "People are not talking about this enough." The only way we beat this problem is through conversation, and public awareness.

I confess that I have largely let this problem flow around me because, I suppose, there are lots of problems and this one has just not fought its way high up my own priority list. At the same time, it has baffled me; as my strongest mental association with "heroin" is the 1990s film Trainspotting the idea that heroin would ever surge in popularity has just been difficult to process. (As I suspect most people who have seen the same film will understand.)

For whatever reason, this post finally motivated me to seek out some kind of explanation, and I found this helpful:

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9433099/op ... n-epidemic

It does at least provide some suggestion for why growing numbers of people have taken up what seems to be one of the most unpleasant drugs ever invented.

[Jim O'Bryan]

For whatever reason, this post finally motivated me to seek out some kind of explanation, and I found this helpful:

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9433099/op ... n-epidemic

It does at least provide some suggestion for why growing numbers of people have taken up what seems to be one of the most unpleasant drugs ever invented.

Thanks, great read, and does let us know.

The problem is too large to ignore. 9 heroin overdoses since Thanksgiving. Police, Fire, Paramedics, time. With cities having less and less money, it seems this could be a huge breaking point. Even 5 a week, could add up to millions over a year.

America, collectively needs to figure this one out.

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[mjkuhns]

That is a really good point.

Compelling responses for "where has this come from," and "why should I care about it," in one thread.

Glad you brought up this incident.

[Amy Martin]

Did the person survive?

[Jim O'Bryan]

Did the person survive?

Yes.


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[Lori Allen _]

Great work Lakewood Police and Fire. They do such a great job keeping us safe. They deserve much more pay than some get at city hall, and much more respect from our less than adequate Mayor.

Jim, I respectfully have to disagree with your thoughts on Lakewood not covering up crimes. It appears that right before the Mayoral Election, crime stats suddenly stopped appearing on crime maps and crime reports that can be easily found through public records. There are other reports available, that are public records, but require someone with a specific knowledge to find them.

It appears that crimes involving drug activity, heroin ODs, rape and yes, assault on our officers, have been left off these records. I believe that our Mayor/Safety Director has done this on purpose to keep the "Lakewood Brand" safe. The police follow the directions of the Safety Director. I feel that since Summers has been unsuccessful at both of his positions, he should let the police handle crime in the ways in which they were trained. It has been rumored that a lot of crime in Lakewood goes unreported because the police are being told to not make arrests.

As far as the county coroner, I recall reading something in the news involving him in some sort of scandal. I will search and post if I find it.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jim, I respectfully have to disagree with your thoughts on Lakewood not covering up crimes. It appears that right before the Mayoral Election, crime stats suddenly stopped appearing on crime maps and crime reports that can be easily found through public records. There are other reports available, that are public records, but require someone with a specific knowledge to find them.
As far as the county coroner, I recall reading something in the news involving him in some sort of scandal. I will search and post if I find it.

Lori

I never said City Hall is not changing numbers or covering up anything.

I said, I have never gotten any BS from Lakewood Police and Fire about heroin/drug overdoses. In fact Fire Chief Scott Gilman corrected me on having a number too low for the past week. I believe that everyone now knows we are in a desperate problem. Mayor Summers and others have had various public meetings about this subject, and the last one had over 90 people there.

Lori, I do not know the Corner, I speak with members of his/her office, and they constantly complain the media is not doing enough. Again, hard to see the people begging to get info and numbers out there, being the ones covering up.

ALL CITIES under report crime, not sure that applies to heroin. But break ins, etc. Many base on convictions, not calls. Some base on what gets to court, not calls. There is a reason, and until all cities report crime the same way, the first to be 100 percent honest is at a severe disadvantage.

In Lakewood, we have good quick acting police and fire. Let's be thankful.

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[Lori Allen _]

I think we can all agree that the police are overworked. When they have to follow these ambulances around to hospitals, they can sometimes be out of the city for up to two hours taking reports.

With that being said, it is not the police that are covering up crimes, but the mayor, in my humble opinion. I have not seen a news story yet about the West Clifton shooting incident. I have not seen a news story yet about the homicide and stand-off on Gladys last week. I have not found a news story yet about many things. It took how long again for the mayor to get word out to the news that a serial rapist was working our streets? How does he keep this stuff off of the news?

A garbage man hits a few cars and Fox 8 acts like the world has ended and he is later fired. He is not the only city employee to be hitting things. He was the only employee to get a breathalyzer test, even though Chief of Police Timothy Malley says that it is standard procedure for all employees. Huh? Police reports show that this now-fired garbage man was the only garbage man ever to be alcohol-tested following an accident. I thought it was standard procedure. Furthermore, police reports show that the now-fired garbage man was not suspected of using alcohol, but a test was given anyway. Did this now-fired garbage man say too much?

Thread-drifting, but I thought since it involved news coverage, it should be mentioned.