A little strip can go a long way.
That’s what Healdsburg Police Department is hoping as it reported the availability of fentanyl detection strips to city council during its annual update.
The strips, provided free to the department and offered for free on a no-questions-asked basis at the department, is the latest effort of the Harm Reduction Task Force to fight the opioid epidemic.
The strips can be used to detect fentanyl in street drugs, which could prevent overdose deaths, as the drug is exponentially more powerful than heroin, a drug that is already able to cause overdoses with one use. Fentanyl has been a large concern in drug users and those who treat them as it is sometimes intentionally cut into low-grade heroin to increase potency, sometimes at intentionally high enough of a dose to kill to prove the heroin’s efficacy.
Police Chief Kevin Burke said that the strips are still being marketed by the task force, so it is still unclear whether or not they will be taken advantage of. He said he realized the police station is probably not the first place people think to go when they think about drug safety. However, the emphasis on safety versus punishment is one of the paradigm shifts Burke said the department was trying.
Turning to statistics, a total of 20,533 calls were taken by the police, with 473 taken before the county attorney to press charges. Of these 473, 77 percent were taken up. Burke said this was a good number, as probable cause for arrest has a lower threshold than proving guilt in a trial, thereby lowering the amount of cases brought to court.
The chief showed that while the total number varies drastically, larceny is the most common crime committed. Most calls are made to police over suspicious vehicles, people or situations. Even though most of these calls have reasonable explanations and do not lead to arrests, Burke said he is happy residents are staying vigilant.
Use of force was down when compared to the previous three years. 2018 saw nine incidents of use of force, versus 20 in 2017, 16 in 2016 and 11 in 2015. There was no use of deadly force in these statistics. As a percentage of total calls, 2018 uses of force sat at 1.3 percent. The highest percentage of those listed was in 2017, at 3 percent.
Police use of force was broken down into several categories, listing use of take downs, control holds, impact weapons (such as a baton), Tasers or distractive strikes (hitting or kicking).
Police bodycams, especially for use of force reviews, make a huge difference, according to Burke.
“It’s made our job a lot more certain,” he said.
In 2018, the department recorded 12,803 videos on its bodycams, for a total of 1,793.94 hours of footage. In most cases, these videos are stored for a year. When use of force or prosecution is the result of a police encounter, however, the videos can be kept on record longer.
Traffic stops were also addressed. Drivers have roughly an 11 percent chance of getting a ticket when pulled over, depending on circumstances. If a person has no prior warnings for speeding or other violations, Burke said it has been the goal to educate and warn drivers rather than give out tickets. He also noted that much of the stops over texting while driving, speeding and the like involve locals.
