Heroin overdoses up in Manassas, overall crime at 10-year low

More people are overdosing on heroin in Manassas.

City Police Chief Douglas Keen reports there have been 56 total heroin overdoses in the city in the past year. That’s an increase of 70 percent over the previous year.

A total of 12 people died in the city as a result of an overdose this past year.

Keen told elected city leaders that, sometimes, the police department can track where the fatal heroin is coming from when it has fentanyl — a powerful opioid used to treat pain, and one that can be dangerous to law enforcement officers and rescue personnel who are engaged in life-saving actives when trying to resuscitate an overdose victim.

Manassas police have bee issued Narcan to use if they are first to the scene of an overdose, they can administer it a victim. Police also partner with UVA Prime William Medical Center twice a year for community drug-take backs, where residents can come to dispose of old or unused drugs safely for free, said city spokeswoman Patty Prince.

Inside the Prince William Regional Jail, officials run a program for addiction rehabilitation. “Sometimes that is the only way to get help for those with issues with addiction,” added Prince.

In 2017, there were 1,241 drug overdose deaths involving opioids in Virginia—a rate of 14.8 deaths per 100,000 persons, compared to the national rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 persons, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Despite the uptick in drug use, the overall crime rate in the city has decreased by 3 percent to the lowest its been in a decade. Keen credits his officers’ ability to work with residents to police the community.

“I still believe we are fortunate, in times that many other communities struggle with relationships with law enforcement…” said Keen.