In wake of rising heroin-related deaths, Milwaukee police announce new drug overdose task force

With opioid-related deaths rising, the Milwaukee Police Department is creating a new task force to investigate fatal overdoses, Chief Edward Flynn announced Thursday.

"We want to be able to move even more rapidly than we have so far in following up with leads associated with drug overdoses," Flynn said.

The department is moving six members of the intelligence unit to narcotics, meaning 16 investigators will be focusing exclusively on these overdoses, he said.

The task force will take advantage of new technology: an advanced mass spectrometer instrument to help the medical examiner's office slash testing time for opioids and other drugs from weeks to days.

"That means the leads are fresh," Flynn said.

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Milwaukee County and the city have each contributed $200,000 for the purchase of the machine, which should be operational within four to six months, he said.

The task force will provide a quicker turnaround of intelligence, identify patterns and geographic spikes where deaths are occurring and rapidly respond to deadly batches of fentanyl-laced heroin, he said.

"We're looking to prosecute dealers, not users," Flynn said.

The pace of drug-related deaths has steadily continued in Milwaukee County.

As of Thursday, 357 drug-related deaths have been confirmed at the medical examiner's office. Determinations in 34 other cases are pending further toxicology results. 

Of those deaths, 85% are opioid-related, with 152 deaths found to be heroin-related, according to medical examiner data.

The number of drug-related deaths is almost as high as the combined number of homicides, suicides and traffic fatalities in the county this year.

In addition, nearly 3,000 nonfatal overdoses had been reported to the Milwaukee Fire Department as of Nov. 9. The vast majority of those people were city residents.

Fire Department data showed the most concentrated area of nonfatal overdoses is the near south side, bordered by W. National Ave., S. 1st St., W. Cleveland Ave. and S. 27th St.

"This is a serious problem that is hitting all parts of this community, all parts of the state and all parts of this nation," Mayor Tom Barrett said.

Ald. Michael Murphy, who has led local efforts on the issue, agreed.

"It cuts across all demographics," he said.

The new police task force will supplement existing efforts. The Milwaukee Police Department has been a longtime partner in the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, which works with federal law enforcement on drug cases.

Last week, federal, state and local officials involved in the HIDTA task force announced the arrests of 19 people who were charged in a sprawling drug conspiracy case involving sales of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine linked to dozens of overdose deaths in southeast Wisconsin.

The bust came three months after a similar large-scale drug case in which 19 people were charged. Officials said both investigations had been ongoing for more than two years.