Community Opiate-Outreach Program
The Strongsville Police Department is taking a new approach to the ongoing addiction crisis, recognizing that arresting the abuser is not solving the problem.
With overdoses of opioids, heroin and fentanyl at record high numbers, the department, in cooperation with other local agencies, churches and businesses, is taking a multi-tiered approach that starts with treatment and continues with support to get addicts into treatment and support them on the road to recovery.
The new approach puts law enforcement in a proactive role aimed at helping to alleviate the drug addiction problem and save residents' lives.
Safe Passages
Under Safe Passages, a resident who wants help for drug addiction can simply walk into the police station during normal business hours and ask for it. The department will arrange for the person to be admitted to a treatment facility (it may not be immediate), will help with insurance forms and even provide a ride, if needed.
If you have drugs or paraphernalia at your residence, we will arrange to dispose of it for you. You will not be arrested. You will not be charged with a crime. You will not be jailed. You will be directed to treatment.
Quick Response Team
When someone survives a drug overdose, he or she will be visited at home soon afterward by a Quick Response Team, made up of a police officer, a paramedic and a counselor certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The QRT will offer counseling and referral to addiction and mental health services. Members of the QRT will continue to monitor the survivor and offer support and advice to both the patient and their family.
If you or a family member have overdosed, expect the response team to visit your residence. You also may make an appointment by calling (440) 580-3230.
The goal is to provide counseling and referral to addiction and mental health services; to monitor the survivor; and to offer support and advice to the patients and their families.
Resources
The Strongsville Police Department has compiled some resources in northeast Ohio for those dealing with addiction. Please click brochure below for more information:
