The growing number of calls for service requiring first responders to deal with fentanyl and its trafficking and use has prompted the Province to fund specialized training for those on the front line.

Police leaders and drug experts have developed and approved a structured, two-day workshop to take place in Victoria June 14 and 15, 2016, and in Vancouver June 28 and 29, 2016:

• Day one – for police officers, paramedics, firefighters, Canadian Border Service Agency agents, coroners and other first responders – will focus on the dangers of the drug and its derivatives, as well as another toxic substance, W-18, addressing safe handling and issues encountered at overdose scenes.
• Day two, limited to drug investigators, will cover fentanyl importation, processing, packaging, pricing and distribution, with a focus on B.C. trends. Officers who attend both days will receive certification, which will advance their qualification to give evidence related to fentanyl trafficking in court.

Proceeds from B.C.’s Civil Forfeiture Office are covering the approximate $7,500 cost of the first two workshops, which are taking place in Victoria and Vancouver this month and are expected to draw first responders from throughout B.C. and the Yukon. More workshops will follow in other regions this fall.

B.C.’s 10-year-old civil forfeiture program targets proceeds and tools of unlawful activity. Proceeds from successful forfeiture actions support crime prevention and victim support programs, as well as police training and special equipment. In March, the Province announced a record $7.2 million in grants from civil and criminal forfeiture proceeds.

Quotes:

Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris –

“For police officers, medical personnel and the public, it’s concerning to know that, in a growing number of medical emergencies, drug users don’t necessarily know what they’ve ingested. We want to ensure that our first responders have the tools necessary to have a better understanding of these challenges. To that end, my ministry is supporting these innovative and timely workshops, which will focus on helping investigators to get more of this deadly drug off our streets.”

Chief Supt. Sean Bourrie, chair, drug committee, B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police –

“The collaboration among experts from a number of B.C. police agencies, to develop a workshop of such value to police officers and a full spectrum of first responders, is both inspiring and necessary. The BCACP is endorsing this training and believes both days of the workshop will be of great value in furthering the safety of both members and the public.”

Staff Sgt. Conor King, Victoria Police Department drug expert and workshop co-developer –

“Fentanyl is a highly lethal substance that’s widely available and frequently disguised – for example, in heroin or pressed into pills. While the tragic results for B.C. drug users are well known, first responders need more comprehensive information – both to protect them from dangerous contact with this drug and to build investigators’ knowledge so they can intercept more fentanyl and thereby save lives. Those are the goals of the new workshops.”

Quick Facts:

• Drug experts from the Victoria Police Department, B.C. RCMP and Vancouver Police Department developed the training workshop, which the drug committee of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police has fully endorsed.
• Fentanyl and drugs laced with it can be deadly, even in minute quantities.
• In the first quarter of 2016, fentanyl was detected in half of B.C.’s illicit drug deaths – up from nearly one-third of these deaths in all of 2015 and just one in 20 of the overdose deaths attributed to illegal drugs in 2012.
• In March, the significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths prompted provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall to declare a public health emergency.

Learn More:

Information on fentanyl and how to be drug safe: https://knowyoursource.ca/

BC Coroners Service report, Fentanyl-Detected in Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/death-investigation/statistical/fentanyl-detected-overdose.pdf

March 2016 record distribution of civil and criminal forfeiture proceeds: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016PSSG0075-000446

B.C.’s Civil Forfeiture Office: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/civilforfeiture/