Hauppauge, NY – County Executive Steve Levy and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer announced at an April 13 press conference that Suffolk’s effort to fight the heroin scourge has produced a 33 percent increase in arrests and a 44 percent surge in charges to date in 2010, compared to the same period in 2009.

The number of heroin-related arrests throughout the Suffolk Police District rose from 209 in 2009 to 279 in 2010 during the January 6-April 12 period, Levy and Dormer said, while heroin charges tied to arrests jumped in the same period from 278 to 400, a 44-percent increase. The number of persons arrested throughout the police district on all drug charges also climbed 15 percent during the period, from 1,480 in 2009 to 1,704 in 2010.

“We are fulfilling our promise to fight heroin, opiate, and substance abuse in all forms,” said Levy, who introduced a 10-point plan to combat heroin on December 17, 2009.

The program features outreach to students; enhanced ‘early impact’ law enforcement efforts; comprehensive region-specific heroin-education forums; useful resources for parents and families dealing with substance abuse, and new support networks for recovering users that foster social strength and celebrate sobriety.

The heroin/opiate task force within the Suffolk Police Department’s Narcotics Section is a cornerstone of the program. The task force is comprised of 3 detective sergeants, 21 detectives and seven police officers. Personnel from the narcotics section, precinct detective squads, and precinct patrol officers are a part of the process. The initiative is being coordinated centrally from police headquarters and is geared toward enhancing our drug enforcement efforts at the local community level.

Levy and Dormer provided details about the task force, which began operating on January 5, 2010 and has since made 169 drug buys, 350 arrests on a range of drug charges, and executed 13 search warrants. A collection of drugs and guns that were confiscated during the arrests was featured prominently at the news conference.

“Our work is not yet done, but the fact that we’re seeing this success so far this year bodes well for the future,” Levy said.

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