Opioid town hall to be held in Baldwin July 12

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The Nassau County Police Department on July 12 will host a follow-up town hall on its fight against the use and sale of opioids in Baldwin, 64 days after officers and county officials first met with residents in the neighborhood.

It will take place at the Baldwin Fire Department, located at 2386 Grand Ave., at 7 p.m. The NCPD is offering the first 25 students who show up $20 gift cards to area food establishments. It was originally scheduled for June 20, but was pushed back.

Baldwin is No. 5 on the NCPD’s list of opioid hotspots. Police officers and health officials have been in the community for the past two months cracking down on drug dealers and working with addicts to put them in treatment programs if needed.

“If you’re a user, we’ll work with you to get you into a program,” NCPD Deputy Inspector Bill Leahy, commanding officer of the NCPD’s 1st Precinct, told the Baldwin Civic Association in June. “We’ll check up on you, see how you’re doing.”

Cops are less sympathetic to those caught selling the drugs — in the program’s first week in Baldwin, there were 41 drug-related arrests, along with 12 more for other crimes.

From January 2017 to April 2018, Baldwin saw 43 non-fatal opioid overdoses and six fatal ODs.

Speakers at the July 12 town hall will include experts from the NCPD to talk about narcotics arrests, overdoses, related crimes in the Baldwin area and available treatment options.