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Dodge County Law Enforcement working together to fight opioid crisis | By Ryan D. Toellner

Dodge Co., WI – Many citizens are not aware of the current efforts that are currently taking place to fight the drug/opioid crisis in Dodge County.
Drugs confiscated in Washington County opioid
Opioid confiscation by Sheriff’s Department

For over 40 years, law enforcement agencies in Dodge County have banded together forming the Dodge County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force. The agencies currently involved include the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office along with police departments from Beaver Dam, Columbus, Horicon, Iron Ridge, Juneau, Lomira, Mayville, Watertown, and Waupun.

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The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and Beaver Dam Police Department have committed officers full time whose sole purpose is to combat the illegal distribution and sale of controlled substance within Dodge County.

The Mayville Police Department, along with the other agencies involved, have committed officers part time to the task force.

In 2020, law enforcement leaders from the involved agencies formed the Dodge County Muti-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Board of Directors. The oversight committee consists of the chiefs and sheriff of the agencies involved meet regularly to find ways to constantly improve the very difficult task of fighting the opioid crisis that continues to cause devastation from addiction and the deaths that occur from overdose.

The opioid epidemic is the deadliest illicit drug crisis in the history of the United States. In 2021 alone, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 75,673 opioid-related overdose deaths, a 26-percent increase over the previous year.

In Dodge County in the past five years, there has also been a significant trajectory upwards of the number of cases that have been investigated by the Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force. There were 94 cases in 2017, 56 cases in 2018, 52 cases in 2019, 160 cases in 2020, and 203 cases in 2021.

Law enforcement has a unique role of addressing this drug problem because it is directly tasked with interacting with those affected by the crisis on a day-to-day basis. The board of directors’ main goal is to attack this problem together. In the past, a law enforcement agency would regularly investigate drug complaints or overdose deaths on their own with limited resources and information.

Drugs
Opioid confiscated by law enforcement

Our collaboration ensures there is complete and consistent information sharing, training and tactics between the Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force and its members, including the smaller agencies.

In all of the years the drug task force has been in operation, we have never seen the collaboration and teamwork which our agencies currently have with each other. Our agencies are successfully investigating not only drug delivery to take illicit drugs off the street, but they are also investigating drug overdoses to hold accountable those who provide illicit drugs to overdose victims.

Effective collaboration is essential in fighting this crisis. The board recognizes that law enforcement alone cannot fight this problem by itself. This issue requires direct community support involving everyone from schools, to businesses, to non-profit organizations. Law enforcement must play a central role in these partnerships and the board realizes this.

This is why it has been so important for the Dodge County agencies to come together to fight this crisis.

The board of directors also emphasizes information sharing with patrol officers so they can understand and provide critical firsthand information when a potential issue arises. Patrol officers are often the first on scene when a drug related complaint comes in. They can put together information and identify suspects to the task force for further investigation.

The drug task force takes this information and creates an information network for neighboring law enforcement agencies to focus on the identified threat. They determine a geographical area and focus the necessary resources to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The board of directors understands that the law enforcement role in this epidemic extends beyond just making arrests. Open dialog must occur often between all agencies involved so our communities can come together to create an opportunity for addicts to turn the corner to create a chance for a successful and realistic reduction in drug use.

As law enforcement works hard to curb drug crimes in Dodge County, we need to remember that this is not merely a law enforcement problem, but it is a community problem that we all need to work together to solve as a community.

We must all fight as a team to put a stop to overdose deaths and the devastation that drugs have in Dodge County.

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