4 OCTOBER 19, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Police talk about rising opioid epidemic at Ridgewood meeting
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
The 104th Precinct Community
Council (104PCC) was visited
by a familiar face during their
monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17,
at St. Matthias School in Ridgewood,
as Captain Gregory Mackie, former
executive offi cer of the 104th Precinct,
came to discuss the growing opioid
epidemic plaguing the city.
Aft er leaving the 104th Precinct,
Mackie moved to the NYPD’s Queens
Narcotics Division to help deal with
the city’s opioid epidemic, with people
overdosing (OD) on opioid pain medication
and heroin at an alarming rate.
To combat the rising number of
overdoses, the NYPD created a narcotics
task force, where narcotics detectives
are dedicated to investigating
each overdose case in the city of New
York, and on a more local level, Queens
North.
“The goal is apprehending and
bringing to justice the dealer, or the
dealers, who are responsible for the
overdose incidents,” Mackie said. “We
treat the person who overdoses as a
victim. A lot of times we go to these
jobs, and a common misconception
that people have is that we are aft er
the person who overdosed to arrest
them, to punish them for being a drug
addict. That is not the case, so I’m going
to dispel that myth right now. Our goal
is to apprehend the dealer.”
According to Mackie, overdoses are
on the rise because drug dealers are
now cutting their drugs with the highly
addictive and dangerous Fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a narcotic used to treat
severe pain that has a high risk for
addiction and dependence, and can
cause respiratory distress and death
when taken in high doses or when
combined with other substances, especially
alcohol.
Mackie said there have been 219
overdose incidents in the borough
for the year, with two-thirds of them
non-fatal, and approximately 72 fatal
incidents.
Whenever the police respond to an
incident, they test all of the substances
found at the scene.
“We are fi nding that more and more,
the percentage is becoming higher
and higher for Fentanyl,” Mackie said.
“These people are buying basically
straight Fentanyl off the street thinking
they’re getting heroin, or thinking
Captain Gregory Mackie returned to the 104th Precinct to talk about the
city's opioid epidemic.
they are getting Oxycodone, but really
as a matter of fact, it’s almost pure
Fentanyl; or very, very tiny traces of
actual narcotic, which is very alarming
because these are the things that
are killing people.”
Mackie gave those in attendance
signs to look for in a person to determine
if they have a drug problem and
what to watch out for if they believe
someone is currently shooting up drugs.
Photo by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
For anyone interested in addiction
services, Mackie suggested checking
311 for a comprehensive list of services.
The 104th Precinct’s Commanding
Offi cer, Captain John Mastronardi,
also presented Police Offi cers Jeff ery
Mark and Andre Taveras with the
Cop of the Month Award for taking
a loaded .45-caliber fi rearm off the
streets of Ridgewood during a patrol
on Aug. 27.
Christ the King students
participate in Annual Walkathon
Christ the King High School
recently held its Annual
Walkathon, where students
raised money for various school
clubs. The day was fi lled with fun
activities which included relay
races against faculty, as well as a
school-wide Zumba class taught by
Ms. Cesare and Ms. Rodriguez.
Photos courtesy
of Christ the King High School
WRBA celebrates 46th
Annual Dinner Dance
Photo courtesy of the Woodhaven Residents Block Association
Woodhaven’s top men and
women were honored
at the Woodhaven Residents
Block Association (WRBA)
46th Annual Dinner Dance. Over
130 residents came out to Roma
View Catering to celebrate with the
WRBA on Oct. 6.
Walter Steffens of Emanuel
United Church of Christ, showed
up to receive the “Man of the Year”
award, but he was surprised when
his son Scott Steff ens, a U.S. Navy
soldier stationed overseas, suddenly
jumped out mid-speech to show his
father some love. Walter Steff ens
broke into tears, and the dining hall
erupted in cheers.
Charlotte Butler from K9 Korral
Dog Run in Forest Park was named
“Woman of the Year,” and House of
Holidays, owned by Larry Guarino,
was named “Business of the
Year.”
