NEWS

Jordan briefed on drug epidemic

Todd Hill
Reporter

BUCYRUS – Crawford County’s representative in Congress got an earful from local law enforcement leaders Wednesday during a stop in Bucyrus.

“This community is still very fired up about the heroin and opiate epidemic,” Bucyrus Police Chief David Koepke told Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, during a meeting at the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office. “Heroin is coming in from Mexico, and people here go down to Columbus to pick it up.”

“Do you see an increase in crime to support the drug habit?” Jordan asked. Both Koepke and Crawford County Sheriff Scott Kent answered in the affirmative.

“Drug abuse is not a victimless crime,” Kent replied.

“And sometimes the victims are children in the home. People in that life live here and we have got to do something about it,” Koepke told the congressman.

The police chief noted that until recently Crawford County was one of the worst counties in the state for opiate activity, which he blamed in part on pill mills doing business here in the early ‘00s.

“We’re not a red county anymore, but we’ve built in a population of addicts. It’s a generational shift,” Koepke said.

None of this came as a shock to the congressman.

“This is something we hear about every day, including even from employers. We hear that literally every day, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Some of these are good-paying jobs, too,” Jordan said, adding that he’s in favor of programs aimed at turning drug convicts away from lives of crime.

“When they’re in prison paying for it, let’s be sure they’re getting some treatment,” he said. “These programs also had a work component back in the ‘90s, and we’ve kind of gotten away from that.”

The sheriff asked Jordan if more money could be made available in Washington for body cameras for officers. Both the sheriff’s office and Bucyrus police currently use them, but depend on cheap models that don’t last very long.

“There’s such a public push for them, and it’s a win-win for both the public and for us,” Kent said.

“I’m definitely in favor of them for when an officer is collecting evidence and might be accused of something,” county prosecutor Matt Crall said.

Jordan, however, didn’t make any promises.

“You might want to look at what’s available by way of grants. I don’t see a new program, because of our debt situation,” he said.

“Typically, the federal government gets in your way, but we’d like to see what we can do that’s positive.”

Koepke reminded Jordan that law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day. So far this year 41 have died in the line of duty in the U.S.; 127 lost their lives last year.

“I’d like to hear more about that. We are the public, the public is us,” he said.

thill3@nncogannett.com

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Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ