The Washington County, Pennsylvania District Attorney's Office requested assistance through BJA NTTAC to enhance its the office’s operations and prepare a report detailing recommendations and best prosecutorial practices in the following areas: office organization and structure, case processing and quality of work, training, and evaluation, and addressing their current heroin and opioid issues. Kris Hamann was selected to facilitate the assistance and conducted a two-day onsite visit with the agency in November 2019 and January 2020. Kris Hamann developed a report with recommendations for best prosecutorial practices.
I was elected in 2012 and was immediately confronted with a large number of people overdosing and dying in Washington County. When Fentanyl hit in 2015, we were one of the first areas to have deaths associated with a fentanyl cluster and made the front page of the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-heroin-epide… At one point we had one of the highest overdose death rates in the country (>40/100k). Fortunately for us, we have one of the best D & A managers in the state and we created and co-chair a public health coalition to address the overdoses and deaths associated with them. I was also fortunate to be able to work with US Attorney David Hickton and the National Heroin Overdose Task Force. We have implemented many programs in the criminal justice system and other areas to reduce the devastation caused by this national epidemic. But we need to do more. We also have a serious violent crime problem, principally occurring through domestic violence. The combination of a serious drug abuse issue and violent crime is a real concern to me. I would appreciate an evaluation of my office that will help us to find new, better and more efficient ways to address these very serious problems impacting Washington County.
Drug & Alcohol treatment providers
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