The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center (RIIC), which provides invaluable research and data to partnered law enforcement agencies, is assisting the Allentown Health Bureau with data that will be used to help target drug overdose prevention efforts and will also help analyze crisis intervention training.

The RIIC, which opened in 2013, was spearheaded by District Attorney Jim Martin in an effort to revolutionize how area police departments and law enforcement agencies share data to solve crimes. It is governed by the District Attorney.

Since its inception, the RIIC has been used to help police solve homicides, drug cases, sex offenses as well as both human-trafficking and gang-related crimes.

Data from the RIIC will now be used to help inform work being done by the newly-formed Allentown Overdose Fatality Review Team and the Allentown Opioid Task Force in an effort to stem the tide of drug-related deaths and overdoses.

The Allentown Opioid Task Force was formed in 2015 to share opioid prevention initiatives, data and to discuss ideas to help combat the opioid epidemic in the city. The task force includes members of the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, the Lehigh County Drug and Alcohol Department, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office as well as Allentown Police, Allentown Emergency Medical Services, the Allentown School District, Allentown Housing Authority, Lehigh Valley Health Network, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Magellan Health Services and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital.

The Allentown Overdose Fatality Review Team, which will have its first meeting in 2021,

will review the details surrounding overdose fatalities to find commonalities to help inform overdose prevention initiatives in the City of Allentown.

The work with both the Allentown Opioid Task Force and the Allentown Overdose Fatality Review Team is funded in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania State Department of Health for Prescription Drug Monitoring/Overdose Data. The grant will help fund their efforts to collect data through August 2022 which will help fund the RIIC’s Blue Guardian program.

The Blue Guardian Program provides police and certified recovery specialists to people who have overdosed and been revived through the use of Narcan. The program has been successful in helping dozens of people receive treatment for their addiction.

RIIC will provide data surrounding the circumstances of the overdose deaths of individuals including certain details about the decedent, the time and place of the death and toxicology information.

“The information gathered by the RIIC is invaluable as we look for ways to prevent deaths by overdose,” said Vicky Kistler, director of the Allentown Health Bureau.

The RIIC will also provide data along with the Lehigh County SPORE (Special Program for Offenders in Rehabilitation and Education) program for a collaborative effort with Allentown Police and Cedar Crest College. SPORE is a partnership between the Office of Lehigh County Mental Health and both the Adult and Juvenile Probation Departments that provides a mental health caseworker and probation officer to jointly and intensively supervise consumers who experience severe mental health issues.

The partnership will work to evaluate the effectiveness of crisis intervention training provided by Lehigh County to police officers. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if the current training provides officers with the skills needed to effectively engage with members of the community who are in crisis.

The evaluation will measure outcomes that include the quality of the interaction, the results of the interaction, use of force and successful diversion out of the criminal justice system.

The RIIC will work with Allentown Police and Cedar Crest College to manage the data-sharing process and is considered a valuable partner, said Allentown Police Chief Glenn Granitz Jr.

Martin said the data provided by the RIIC in the effort to reduce drug overdoses and to assist with evaluating crisis negotiation training are examples of the important work being done there.

“Both new initiatives by the RIIC will continue to enhance public safety and coordinate vital information in meaningful ways,” Martin said.

Contributed article