State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has issued the first in a series of Department of Justice grants to fight drug abuse in the state.
Van Hollen says that Wisconsin is facing a heroin “epidemic.” He was in Green Bay to give the city’s police department $25,000 in state money to combat heroin use.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this problem,” says Green Bay Police Chief Tom Molitor.
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Molitor says his department will use the money to hire a facilitator who will coordinate anti-heroin efforts between departments and other law enforcement jurisdictions. Green Bay calls it the Heroin Response Initiative. It will include treatment and prevention programs.
Van Hollen acknowledges the grant isn’t a lot of money. “Throwing money at the problem isn’t always the solution,” he says.
This is the first of four such grants the state Department of Justice is issuing. Van Hollen says when effective programs are found, the money will be there to fund them.
“Wherever we go – police departments, sheriff’s departments – I am asking what their number one issue in law enforcement is right now,” says Van Hollen. “The answer is almost unanimously the heroin epidemic.”
Van Hollen says the state will also unveil a public information campaign against heroin next month.
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