BELLEVILLE — Federal law enforcement leaders meeting here Thursday encouraged dozens of police officers, coroners and other officials from throughout southern Illinois to view fatal opioid overdoses as criminal acts that should be prosecuted.
“The days of deeming these cases as accidental has to end,†Michael Davis, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ºüÀêÊÓƵ Division, told the crowd of about 100 people.
While the opioid epidemic seems to worsen every year, the dramatic increase in synthetic fentanyl-related deaths has left a wake of destruction for families and sent officials and public health experts scrambling.
In 2021, the overdose death toll in the United States surpassed 100,000, about three-fourths of them from opioids. Also that year, there were 3,013 fatal opioid overdoses in Illinois, up from 1,072 in 2013, according to state records. There were more than 19,000 EMS responses to opioid overdoses in 2020.
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Thursday’s group in Belleville was gathered for a day of presentations titled “Operation OD Justice.†Officials cautioned that death rates have been climbing in southern Illinois, as well as the rates of fentanyl being a factor in overdose cases.
Some of the subject matter experts stressed the importance of processing crime scenes well and establishing good contact with family members so that leads could be quickly followed, cases made against dealers, distributors, even main suppliers.
Rachelle Crowe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, said “comprehensive strategies†are needed, such as utilizing stiffer federal prison sentences involving fentanyl overdoses that can top 20 years in prison.
“It’s a priority in our office to increase the number of opioid overdose cases,†she said.
She wanted the audience’s help to bring those cases forward.
“In order to successfully prosecute these cases, we need proper evidence collection at the scenes,†she said.
Davis, who came to the DEA’s ºüÀêÊÓƵ Division from Los Angeles in 2022, said in an interview that he wanted both federal and state prosecutors to seek criminal charges involving fatal fentanyl overdoses.
“The U.S. Attorney can only take so much,†he said of the cases. “We want Illinois state prosecutors to prosecute some of the cases also.â€
Regardless, he said DEA will assist at both levels, on both sides of the Mississippi River.
“We will work with local law enforcement to get that case to where it needs to be,†he said. “Whether it’s state or federal, we just want it prosecuted.â€
Roger Smith, retired chief deputy coroner in Madison County, said in an interview that he was glad to see the opioid epidemic explored at the event. He said the lack of consensus in society on how best to view and handle overdoses leaves many questions.
“Is this a public health issue or is this a criminal justice and law enforcement issue? And is there a happy medium?†he said. “Are there areas where there can be collaboration?â€
He said costly autopsy and toxicology reports are often delayed due to the high volume of overdose deaths.
“Can the criminal justice system handle it?†he said of emphasizing prosecution.
James Fontaine, chief of the major narcotics division at the San Diego County, California, district attorney’s office, said in an interview that they started prosecuting fentanyl cases in 2018.
“No one approach can solve the problem,†said Fontaine, one of the presenters. “Just like we can’t arrest our way out of the problem, treatment alone can never solve the problem, nor can harm reduction efforts like clean needles, naloxone and fentanyl test strips.â€
“At some level,†he added, “punishment does serve as a deterrent. If nothing else, it deters those individuals from continuing to sell drugs and taking lives.â€