MORRIS COUNTY — On Wednesday, August 15, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office hosted “The Opioid Crisis: Engaging the Community” as the second of four events this year under New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s “21-County, 21st Century Community Policing Project”.
The Community Policing Project was implemented in 2018 with the goal of building better relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office partnered with Christ Church of Rockaway, the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Morris Center for Addiction Recovery Education & Success (CARES), Daytop New Jersey, Morris County Department of Human Services and Morris County Prevention is Key for this event, to focus on the opioid crisis in our community.
The keynote speaker was former Denver Broncos wide receiver and Super Bowl Champion Vance Johnson, who has suffered from substance abuse disorder. The addition of Vance Johnson to the program demonstrated that addiction does not discriminate and can happen to anyone. The event began with welcoming remarks from Erika Gerena of Christ Church, and Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp. Following their remarks, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Chief Assistant Prosecutor Brad Seabury, presented his “Opiates 101” program, which explains the Heroin and Opioid epidemic, details the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office’s strategy for arresting for-profit illicit drug dealers, as well as how the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office works with their community partners in providing recovery services for those suffering from substance abuse disorder.
A panel discussion then followed, including panelists Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Liu, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, Christ Church Pastor Ron Gonzalez, Barbara Kauffman of Morris CARES, and Jim Curtin of Daytop. The panel discussion revolved around sharing different perspectives on the Heroin and Opioid epidemic. The audience also had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session with the panelists.
Prosecutor Knapp stated, “I would like to thank all participants and the audience for ensuring that this successful event came to fruition. The battle against the heroin and opioid epidemic in our community must continue. While progress has been made in efforts to educate our community and combat addiction, it’s critical that we don’t lose sight of the objective. We will continue to hold events such as this in the future, as well as provide important information for the citizens of Morris County.”
