ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — St. Joseph County has seen a drastic drop in drug-related deaths over the last four years.
“It 2016 we have 58 overdose deaths. In 2017, we had 57 overdose deaths. Last year we had 52 overdose deaths,” said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter. “This year I am happy to report that so far we have only had 12 overdose deaths.”
Because of this drop, Cotter says he and other law enforcement agencies within the county have agreed to close down the county’s drug investigative unit.
“Because of the violence that we have seen in our community, we want to take those resources that we’ve been utilizing in the drug investigations unit and have those investigate the violence that is occurring in our community,” Cotter added.
The eight officers on the unit will be sent back to the police departments from whence they came. Cotter said any drug-related cases that would have fallen into the lap of the DIU will now be investigated by individual police departments.
(PHOTO: spaxiax/Thinkstock)
