BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Law enforcement across Erie County will now treat opioid overdoses as crime scenes.
The new policy calls for state and local law enforcement officers to input information into their on-board computers and to follow certain protocols for the processing of overdose scenes.
United States Attorney James P. Kennedy said his office met with representatives from several law enforcement organizations across the county on Tuesday to introduce the program.
"They will input overdose information that will accurately track the overdoses," Kennedy explained. "This will enhance our ability to prosecute drug traffickers who put the poison out in our streets and it will also enhance our ability to track those who have succumbed to an overdose...so we can (give those who survived) better access to treatment."
Kennedy said the initiatve will promote the building of drug trafficking cases backwards from an overdose scene.
"Using a program called ODMAP, we enhance our ability of treatment providers who are in the greatest of need," he said.