Speech given by Burke County Sheriff Steve E. Whisenant

for MDPS’ Initiative “Partnership for Change”

Morganton Community House, March 20, 2018

I have been in law enforcement for 40 years and I realize what you are thinking; how can a 40 year old man have 40 years of law enforcement experience? I can only contribute it to the new math they are teaching (smile).  

But on a serious note, within those 40 years I’ve observed many changes within the criminal justice system and I’ve enjoyed serving the citizens in various ways. As a brand new 20 year old deputy my goal seemed so simple then, “just lock all the bad people up”.  

In the past 40 years my views and philosophes have broadened with time and we in law enforcement have sought additional paths for serving our citizens while seeking positive differences in peoples’ lives. This “Partnership in Change” initiative is certainly one of those paths and I commend Chief Rector and the other MDPS officers and staff, as well as all of you, for your time, commitment and passion in making Morganton and Burke County a better place to live, work, and enjoy our lives.

I’ve enjoyed the wealth of experiences afforded by serving in two very different law enforcement agencies. In both those organizations I’ve had the opportunity of being educated and molded from many different perspectives. I started as a line officer in both agencies and progressed by serving in every rank. I was blessed in becoming one of only 94 chief U.S. probation officers in the nation. That agency benefited from an abundance of resources including excellent pay for the organization’s members. I’ve also served in every rank of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office with significantly fewer resources (smile) including significantly less pay for the Sheriff’s Office staff. However, my heart and passion is with local law enforcement working alongside the deputies and these police officers who are with us here today.    

I started my law enforcement career at the Sheriff’s Office, before entering the federal system, retiring, and coming back to be appointed Burke County Sheriff in June 2011. With the federal government, we were primary focusing on white collar crimes and major drug cases. What I quickly observed in returning to local law enforcement was the significant impact that substance use disorder was having on our local citizens. There was a striking and obvious direct correlation between substance abuse and crime.

I began researching and gathering statistics, speaking with our officers and subsequently created a four-prong approach of combatting this epidemic. These prongs were (1) law enforcement (2) education (3) treatment and (4) faith-based communities.  I volunteered to speak to any church, civic, or small group who had an interest throughout the county to listen.

When I first started speaking, there was little information being shared about the substance abuse problem. However, with each passing year the public began to hear more and more information until we are now experiencing an explosion of reporting, and especially about opioids.  Recently, there was a powerful 60 Minutes story alleging how the U.S. Congress tied the hands of the DEA (Drug and Enforcement Agency), hampering the DEA from investigating pharmaceutical companies and especially distributors of opioids.  

The public outrage of the money being made on the sale of opioids and the fallout of pushing so many opioids onto the street created a movement regarding these pharmaceutical companies. A growing number of counties, states, and now the federal government are suing these companies for allegedly misleading the public and not policing themselves. The attorneys suing these companies argue the law requires them to be honest and police themselves in not overly distributing these prescriptions. Burke County is one of those counties that has filed a lawsuit. While speaking at one of the three Community Forums initiated by the Burke County Commissioners through the Burke County Health Department, the NC Attorney General shared that he too is pursing legal action on behalf of the N.C. citizens.   

Let me share with you the scope of this epidemic with some national, state, and local statistics.

Nationally:  

 "Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, and so have the sales of these prescription drugs."  (according to the CDC).

 Americans represent just 5% of the world's population, but they consume 80% of the world's opioids. (according to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians).

 While the amount of prescription opioids has grown fourfold, the amount of pain reported by Americans has not changed much. (The takeaway: we are using four times the painkillers to deal with the same amount of pain we did in 1999).

 Think about how many cars are in Morganton this morning, and how many more cars there are when you are late for a meeting or event and trying to find a parking space. With all the cars on the road and the number of accidents we hear about, as far back as 2013, drug overdoses surpassed car crashes as the number one cause of accidental deaths. Tragically the overdose deaths continue to rise.

N.C. Statistics:

 In NC, during the month of July 2016, there were 410 Opioid overdose visits in the Emergency Department. (I’ll use the more commonly known initials ER for Emergency Department). Those 410 climbed to 500 in July 2017.  

 During August 2016, there were 419 ER visits compared to 646 visits in August 2017.

 During the month of July 2016, there were 232 heroin overdose ER visits as compared to 347 in July 2017.

 In August 2016, there were 247 heroin ER visits as compared to 470 in August 2017.

 As you can see the statistics were rising each month and nearly 70 percent of NC youth who misuse Rx drugs get them from family and friends.

Let’s bring it home to Burke County

 In 2016, Burke County ranked 3rd in the state for the highest drug-poisoning death rate.

 A survey of 560 Burke County young people, ages 12 – 25 revealed that more than 1 in 4 were misusing or abusing an Rx drug.

 Since November 23, 2012, the Burke County Narcotics Division has collected 2,950 pounds of meds from the dropboxes we have at the Sheriff’s Office and Valdese PD. Additionally, dropboxes have been added at MDPS and East Burke Pharmacy in Hildebran. (that weight does include containers).

 Working with the Burke County Health Dept., Burke Recovery and others, we have also collected 258,045 units of meds from “take back” events since 2010. Those are events where we set up at a location for the citizens to dispose of their unwanted meds.

As a sheriff, I join these other officers in our mission to protect and serve you. I imagine Chief Rector and others here today feel the same way. However, allow me to speak on behalf of the Sheriff’ Office and share the following. We will (1) continue aggressively pursuing the people who break into your homes, (2) who steal your property, (3) who try to harm you and your family and (4) who commit other crimes against you. However, the reality is we cannot arrest our way out of this drug epidemic. We are looking for a “win win”; we want addicts to change their behavior. Our desire is for them to stop abusing drugs. We want to eliminate spending enormous sums of taxpayers’ money to investigate, arrest, prosecute, incarcerate and supervise these people and that is only considering the individual addict. The wake of the addicts’ behavior is significant. It creates so much pain and suffering, anger, and hopelessness. It splits families, separates precious children from their parents and causes losses of jobs, homes, and businesses.

I began researching paths that we could pursue to lessen this growing epidemic and I believe you are a great group of people for us to partner with in making a difference.  All of us can make a difference by (1) educating ourselves (as you are today), (2) creating paths for treatment for persons you may become aware of or who you know need help and (3) utilizing faith based organizations who quite frankly can have a miraculous impact on people. Lastly (4) we’re asking for your cooperation with your local law enforcement and again, we thank you for your support already evidenced by your presence today.   

Let me share several programs the Sheriff’s Office is pursuing and we’re looking for your expertise and your advice.

1. Drug Diversion Program – LEAD, a Law Enforcement Diversion program that allows qualifying offenders a chance to go to treatment rather than be arrested. If the persons, who would have otherwise been arrested, are successful in completing treatment, they are never charged; if they fail to complete the program, they are charged and proceed through the normal criminal justice channels.

2. Drug courts are problem-solving courts that take a public health approach using a specialized model in which the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities work together to help addicted offenders into long-term recovery. The persons we arrest are coming to court anyway, let’s use the most effective court experience possible to change some of those person lives.  

3. Substance Abuse/Mental Health Counselor in the Jail: Working through Catawba Valley Behavior Healthcare (CVBH), one of my goals for the past, almost seven years, is about to be realized. Burke County will be benefiting from a three year grant through Kate B. Reynolds to provide a case manager within our Burke County jails. That person will be able to provide substance abuse and mental health counselling within the jail, as well as pre-release planning for inmates. In addition, we are asking that they facilitate post-release treatment including peer support, locating housing and assisting with life skills training. Hopefully we can reduce the revolving door of releasing persons who are suffering from substance abuse and/or mental health issues to the same environment, with the same friends, without a job, and without hope.  

Why do I believe these programs, even if only partially successful, will benefit us? It’s because many of the persons we arrest have had 10, 20, 30 or more contacts with law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

When we change one life, we can prevent scores of future interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. I want to lessen the images in my mind of a people lying dead in a house, in a yard, or burned alive in the trunk of a car, as their loved ones are sobbing or even worse, just sitting there with blank stares.

I want to reduce the number of mothers and fathers, spouses, grandparents, and other loved ones of addicts that come to the office, who stop me in restaurants, or in parking lots, or at my church, all pleading for help for someone who has become an addict and whose life has spiraled out of control.

Most addicts usually travel a similar path.  They exhaust all of their own assets to purchase drugs. They then usually align themselves with friends and others who have the means to purchase their drugs. Next, they begin to steal from their families and their employers, if they still have a job. They finally begin committing multiple crimes to support their habits. Crimes range from breaking and entering, larcenies, robberies, and the sale of drugs. Females commonly trade sex for drugs.

Addicts are usually very manipulative and convincing to their families. People who care for them naturally do not want to believe their loved one is capable of committing such acts. However, my experiences reveal that the addicts’ behavior deteriorates to such a level that it becomes apparent they are no longer controlling their lives. Many families will assist with treatment and legal fees to represent the addict who starts to accumulate criminal charges and begins seeking treatment. I’ve spoken to families with the financial means who have spent a million dollars on multiple inpatient treatment centers still to lose their child to a drug overdose death. Many loved ones use “tough love” allowing the addicts to remain in jail when arrested. Other loved ones will charge the addict themselves with crimes committed against them for several reasons. It is common to hear family members say at least I can sleep when they are in jail and we are not lying in bed waiting for that dreaded call that they are dead or have injured or killed someone else. Many loved ones charge the addicts with criminal offenses hoping that the court will order mandatory drug treatment.   

Many people usually suspect or know a person who they feel are illegally using drugs or at least experimenting with them. It’s important that you reach out to them. Most persons who are in long term recovery that I hear speak, talk about someone who reached out, who offered peer support, was a positive influence, and through their concern and involvement lead the addict to a new meaningful life.  

Educate a person, who has not yet created a criminal record for themselves, that felony convictions remain on your record for life. These convictions will create a significant negative impact in limiting their pursuit of life goals that they have yet even to think about.

Again, I’m glad you are here and participating in this wonderful vehicle to make positive changes in our communities.  

I hope you catch a vision to change your world within your circle of influence. And lastly I ask you to keep expanding that circle of influence.

Thank you and thank the MDPS for their vision.