Stephanie Logue 

Staff Writer 

szl414@psu.edu 

Thanks to $221,836 in grant funds, the city of Erie will have new resources to combat crime, reduce gun violence, and lead ex-offenders toward productive lives, state Senators announced Wednesday. “Reducing crime is always the goal, but this money is enabling police and others to try and prevent some of it from happening in the first place,” said state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency approved three federal grants this morning with Erie County qualifying for all of them. The Erie Police Department will get $102,854 to continue financing an intelligence analyst for the second year, which is tasked with assisting in crime prevention and reduction. Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program of the Erie Police Department that works to reduce violent crime via research-based methods such as community participation, intervention, and prevention has received $54,759 in funding. The Erie County Reentry Services and Support Alliance will receive $64,223 from the Greater Erie Community Action Committee to help fund a coordinator who will assist people transitioning from incarceration into the community. This position assists people with résumé writing, job search assistance, and service referrals.

“Equally important to crime investigation and prosecution is how we deal with folks exiting the criminal justice system and returning to the community, because the resources we provide can make a critical difference in the path they take and whether they end up returning to productive lives or falling back into recidivism,” said state Rep. Pat Harkins. “Some of the funding we secured today will bolster services that steer ex-offenders in the right direction, and those efforts benefit our entire community.”

With this grant, the city of Erie wants to use this opportunity to combat the recent drug overdoses and use spikes in the area. They also aim to better assist those who are suffering from drug addiction and prevent others from succumbing to the disease. The first phase entails a closer examination of overdoses, as well as the development and expansion of diversion programs for users. It will also provide help programs for those who have been negatively affected by a person’s drug use. The second element entails expanding drug prevention education programs for the city’s youth. Following a “concerning” increase in overdose investigations in 2021, Erie police Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said the bureau began searching for an avenue to gain financing to take a deeper look at overdoses and overdose deaths. According to police data, there were 276 overdoses reported to Erie police in 2021, up from 170 in 2020. So far this year, city police have responded to 50 reported overdoses, including 10 suspected fatal overdoses, according to police. In comparison, 129 overdoses were reported to city police in 2017, when Erie County saw a surge in drug overdoses that included a record 124 drug-related deaths. According to Coroner Lyell Cook, drug-related deaths in Erie County fell to 82% in 2018 and 76% in 2019, but have since risen to 80% in 2020 and 102% in 2021. When the number of overdose investigations increased in 2021, Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny commented, “we know we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed.” As part of the initiative, Erie police have assigned a major crime detective, Sgt. Donald Dacus, to the bureau’s Drug & Vice Unit. Dacus will investigate every overdose case, according to officials, in order to gather information that will aid in drug investigations. “Looking at a lot of the overdoses, even when they survive, what information can we gather from those and compare to ones where people are dying and see what avenues there are for us,” Spizarny said.

He stated that the information gathered will be utilized to highlight trends and assist in establishing the sorts of drugs used in overdoses, the places where they occur, and the likely sources of those drugs. “Trying to get a bigger picture of what’s going on,” Spizarny said. He stated that the information gathered will be utilized to highlight trends and assist in establishing the sorts of drugs used in overdoses, the places where they occur, and the likely sources of those drugs.

Officials said the statistics will also aid Erie police in comparing the city’s drug situation to that of other cities. Although Lorah stated that anybody found guilty of drug smuggling and trafficking will still face arrest and punishment, Dacus stated that one of the key goals of the grant is to identify users and try to help them without putting them through the criminal justice system. The first method entails police developing, implementing, and expanding diversion programs, as well as the formation of a Diversion and Investigation Unit to assist in the identification of “at-risk” individuals and low-level criminals for diversion and referral programs. Spizarny stated that police will collaborate with a number of local agencies that give services to those suffering from drug addiction in order to link people to the resources they require.

“We’re going to work a little harder at getting referrals for those people,” he said.

According to officials, a “survivor follow-up team” would be formed to focus on persons who have survived an overdose in order to create relationships and underline the availability of support services. According to Dacus, the outreach will go beyond the user to include family members and children who are affected by drug use. According to Lorah, the Mercyhurst Civic Institute will be involved by analyzing police data and assisting in the connection of groups and services. The second component of the initiative will be to construct education and prevention programs to connect law enforcement with school-aged youngsters. The programs will be handled by the Erie Police Athletic League, a youth mentorship program that works at Erie’s public schools and community centers and involves Erie police and representatives of other area law enforcement organizations. Drug and alcohol presentations are being designed expressly for students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, according to Erie police Sgt. Tom Lenox, who oversees the Police Athletic League. According to Lenox, the programs will be provided at all of the schools. “The more information we get out, I think the better,” he said. “I think the success of PAL shows that outreach is something the Erie Police Department is interested in being involved with,” Lorah said of the league, which involves several hundred children. Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz praised Erie police officers’ efforts to combat the drug problem and help those in need outside of criminal investigations. “I think it’s a wonderful way to approach this problem in a different way,” Hirz said.