MONROE - Heroin is still the drug of choice in Green County, but meth may see a resurgence in the coming year.
That was the opinion of state and county officials who met Friday morning for a round table discussion on drug abuse, mental health and other issues facing law enforcement.
Attorney General Brad Schimel organized the meeting, which was attended by Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, of the 17th District, and Sen. Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, of the 15th District, along with 51st Assembly Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and 80th Assembly Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Mt. Horeb, as well as Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale, District Attorney Craig Nolen and police chiefs and other officials from throughout the county.
Schimel opened the discussion by saying he hoped to work toward solutions to the gathered officials' concerns in the coming months in the capital.
The discussion began with a report from Green County health officer RoAnn Warden enumerating four issues the Green County Health Department has highlighted as most important for the county: mental health treatment, alcohol and drug abuse, physical and nutritional health and food security.
Mental health treatment took up about half of the 90-minute discussion. New Glarus Police Chief Burt Boldebuck said his department recently spent more than 30 hours of wages - including several hours of overtime - transporting a suicidal citizen to the nearest facility that can handle mental health cases, the Winnebago Mental Health Institute near Oshkosh.
"They told us we were fifth in line when we got there," Boldebuck said. "So we're wasting resources by just having officers waiting to move up the queue."
Boldebuck also said that treating suicidal people or those with substance abuse problems - people who are "in the darkest part of their lives," he said - by putting them in the back of a police car to drive to a facility three hours away is far from ideal.
Greg Holcomb, director of Green County Human Services, said opening a local mental health facility would at least give the opportunity to return some revenue to the community. However, he and the other law enforcement officials agreed that the vast majority of mental health issues they encounter are drug-related.
Jon Clark, a member of the Stateline Area Narcotics Team, said heroin is still the predominant drug in Green County, although the resurgence of methamphetamine from the Dubuque area may cause more of those cases in Green County in the next year.
Schimel said he hoped Green County's proposed drug treatment court will alleviate the problems law enforcement has in dealing with drug abuse issues.
Vale said Green County's drug court is planned to open in July.
Schimel said a similar drug court program spent $2,700 in a year to treat a single person. Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff said he estimated it costs $2,400 to house an inmate in jail for one month.
"People may say 'we can't afford a drug court,'" Schimel said. "I say, 'you can't afford not to.'"
Schimel also said that community awareness programs could also help reduce drug abuse cases.
"Eighty percent of all heroin addicts started with pills," Schimel said. "More than 70 percent of these people got pills from their family and friends. Pills kill more people in guns, but people would never keep a loaded gun on a table where teenagers are going in and out."
The gathered chiefs agreed that jailing drug abusers is an ineffective way to treat addiction, but acknowledged that it is currently impossible to involuntarily commit a person to rehabilitation. However, Schimel raised the topic of a proposed bill in development that would allow law enforcement to enforce involuntary commitment, which was met with some optimism, although Kelley noted that the lack of nearby treatment facilities would still pose a problem.
The discussion also touched upon asset forfeiture, which allows a state to seize assets involved in a criminal case, particularly drug-related cases.
Rohloff said he was "incensed" that a proposed reform to asset forfeiture laws would allocate all forfeitures into school funds, leaving none to recoup law enforcement costs. The proposed reform would also prevent seizing any assets until the assets' owner is convicted - more than enough time for accomplices of the defendant to take the assets themselves.
Clark added the narcotics task force in Dane County is funded solely on asset seizures.
Kelley also reassured Marklein that he knew of no cases where assets were seized from a person later found to be innocent.
"There's a process we go through," Kelley said. "We don't just see a big farm and go 'hey, let's check and see if they bought it with drug money.'"
The discussion also briefly turned to the countywide 911 system, which was ordered to be replaced in May of 2016 at a $30,000 cost to the city.
Schimel ended the discussion by reassuring the gathered officials that the issues they raised were universal, and had been heard throughout the state. He concluded with a recommendation to the officials to check the "wellness" of the people in their agencies, saying the constant stress and darkness of the job can have negative effects on officers' well-being.
"We've done a lot to improve the physical health of people in law enforcement," Schimel said. "But we haven't done much to help their emotional or mental health."
That was the opinion of state and county officials who met Friday morning for a round table discussion on drug abuse, mental health and other issues facing law enforcement.
Attorney General Brad Schimel organized the meeting, which was attended by Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, of the 17th District, and Sen. Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, of the 15th District, along with 51st Assembly Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and 80th Assembly Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Mt. Horeb, as well as Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale, District Attorney Craig Nolen and police chiefs and other officials from throughout the county.
Schimel opened the discussion by saying he hoped to work toward solutions to the gathered officials' concerns in the coming months in the capital.
The discussion began with a report from Green County health officer RoAnn Warden enumerating four issues the Green County Health Department has highlighted as most important for the county: mental health treatment, alcohol and drug abuse, physical and nutritional health and food security.
Mental health treatment took up about half of the 90-minute discussion. New Glarus Police Chief Burt Boldebuck said his department recently spent more than 30 hours of wages - including several hours of overtime - transporting a suicidal citizen to the nearest facility that can handle mental health cases, the Winnebago Mental Health Institute near Oshkosh.
"They told us we were fifth in line when we got there," Boldebuck said. "So we're wasting resources by just having officers waiting to move up the queue."
Boldebuck also said that treating suicidal people or those with substance abuse problems - people who are "in the darkest part of their lives," he said - by putting them in the back of a police car to drive to a facility three hours away is far from ideal.
Greg Holcomb, director of Green County Human Services, said opening a local mental health facility would at least give the opportunity to return some revenue to the community. However, he and the other law enforcement officials agreed that the vast majority of mental health issues they encounter are drug-related.
Jon Clark, a member of the Stateline Area Narcotics Team, said heroin is still the predominant drug in Green County, although the resurgence of methamphetamine from the Dubuque area may cause more of those cases in Green County in the next year.
Schimel said he hoped Green County's proposed drug treatment court will alleviate the problems law enforcement has in dealing with drug abuse issues.
Vale said Green County's drug court is planned to open in July.
Schimel said a similar drug court program spent $2,700 in a year to treat a single person. Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff said he estimated it costs $2,400 to house an inmate in jail for one month.
"People may say 'we can't afford a drug court,'" Schimel said. "I say, 'you can't afford not to.'"
Schimel also said that community awareness programs could also help reduce drug abuse cases.
"Eighty percent of all heroin addicts started with pills," Schimel said. "More than 70 percent of these people got pills from their family and friends. Pills kill more people in guns, but people would never keep a loaded gun on a table where teenagers are going in and out."
The gathered chiefs agreed that jailing drug abusers is an ineffective way to treat addiction, but acknowledged that it is currently impossible to involuntarily commit a person to rehabilitation. However, Schimel raised the topic of a proposed bill in development that would allow law enforcement to enforce involuntary commitment, which was met with some optimism, although Kelley noted that the lack of nearby treatment facilities would still pose a problem.
The discussion also touched upon asset forfeiture, which allows a state to seize assets involved in a criminal case, particularly drug-related cases.
Rohloff said he was "incensed" that a proposed reform to asset forfeiture laws would allocate all forfeitures into school funds, leaving none to recoup law enforcement costs. The proposed reform would also prevent seizing any assets until the assets' owner is convicted - more than enough time for accomplices of the defendant to take the assets themselves.
Clark added the narcotics task force in Dane County is funded solely on asset seizures.
Kelley also reassured Marklein that he knew of no cases where assets were seized from a person later found to be innocent.
"There's a process we go through," Kelley said. "We don't just see a big farm and go 'hey, let's check and see if they bought it with drug money.'"
The discussion also briefly turned to the countywide 911 system, which was ordered to be replaced in May of 2016 at a $30,000 cost to the city.
Schimel ended the discussion by reassuring the gathered officials that the issues they raised were universal, and had been heard throughout the state. He concluded with a recommendation to the officials to check the "wellness" of the people in their agencies, saying the constant stress and darkness of the job can have negative effects on officers' well-being.
"We've done a lot to improve the physical health of people in law enforcement," Schimel said. "But we haven't done much to help their emotional or mental health."