On September 29th, 2017, the Center on Policing Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by the Motorola Solutions Foundation hosted an event with recently retired New Jersey State Police Superintendent Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, and Program Development Specialist for the NJSP Shelly Lowe.  Colonel Fuentes and Ms. Lowe led a discussion titled “Opiate Crisis: Professional and Personal Experiences.”  Colonel Fuentes served as Superintendent for fourteen years and recently retired at the end of October.

Colonel Fuentes highlighted the facts about the ongoing opiate crisis, the process of manufacturing opiates, and the steps taken to monitor and control the production of fentanyl.  He also provided information on the role of the NJSP in combating opioids, the path of heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF), and its impact on communities and law enforcement.

The Colonel discussed the New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC) Drug Monitoring Initiative (DMI), which was created to address and monitor the pervasive use of heroin and opiates in New Jersey.  DMI network analysis can see if overdose deaths are related.  Some benefits of the program include reports that are sent out on a daily, weekly, and bi-monthly basis which include information like the kind of stamps being used on packaged heroin.

Shelly Lowe, Program Development Specialist for NJSP

Ms. Lowe, in addition to providing facts about fentanyl, provided a personal account of losing her son Adam to fentantly addiction, and her perspective that “it’s not just a disease.”  She also provided insighed into the rehabilitation process and played a video clip where she discussed her experience of losing her son.  The video is part of the Manchester Police Department’s “#NotEvenOnce” campaign, which is a program implemented by the department to education high schoolers about the dangers of opiate use.  Ms. Lowe also discussed how the amount of heroin needed for a first-degree felony distribution charge is 5 ounces, which is equivalent to 202,500 doses of heroin.  She argues the law needs to be changed to reflect the severity of heroin and fentanyl, which only 1/16 of an ounce can be lethal.

Law enforcement officials attended the lecture form local, state, and even international agencies as well as students and professions from the university and residents from the surrounding community.

Before the lecture, Senator Linda R. Greenstein, Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, and their respective staffs joined COP staff for a pre-meeting with Colonel Fuentes and Ms. Lowe to discuss possible legislative initiatives in response to the opioid crisis.