Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said equipping police officers with the “potentially lifesaving tool” in the state’s most densely populated county has “proven correct time and time again.”
“Police are often the first responders in an emergency and in overdose cases, time is always paramount,” Suarez said.
Heroin and fentanyl -- a powerful synthetic opioid up to 100 times stronger than morphine --are strong enough to become addictive after just one dose and has proven to affect people of all races and economic standings. In Hoboken, a city of 55,000, Ferrante said overdose victims treated by police come from all walks of life – from married adults with children to single residents living below the poverty line in public housing complexes.
And law enforcement continues to find ways to help fight the opioid crisis.
Suarez said her office has been working with Jersey City Medical Center to try help overdose victims seek long-term recovery treatments. One of the programs people suffering from the addiction are encouraged to participate in is the Opioid Overdose Recovery Program that RWJBarnabas Health brought to JCMC.
Suarez said she hopes to help expand the program into other hospitals in Hudson County.