RESOLUTION £>*o\t
WHEREAS, according to reports, New York City police officers most likely to come into street-level contact with overdose victims will soon carry medications to reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin or opioid prescription pills; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Office of the Attorney General has agreed to provide the New York City Police Department with funding to equip 19,500 police officers with naloxone, the extremely effective heroine antidote that can instantly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Attorney General will use funds seized from drug dealers and other criminals to reimburse local police departments for the cost of naloxone kits; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the program in New York City, police officers assigned to patrol functions, which includes officers assigned to all precincts as well as the NYPD's Transit and Housing bureaus, will now carry the life-saving drug and be trained to administer it in a medical emergency; and
WHEREAS, each naloxone kit consists of a zip bag or pouch containing two pre-filled syringes of naloxone, two atomizes for nasal administration, sterile gloves and a booklet on the use of the drug; and
WHEREAS, police encounters with overdose victims have become increasingly frequent amid skyrocketing heroin use and opioid pill abuse; and
WHEREAS, since the fall of 2010, the police department of Quincy, Massachusetts, the first department in the nation to require its officers to carry naloxone, has used the drug 221 times and successfully reversed 211 overdoses (as of February), a success rate of over 95%; and
WHEREAS, in New York's Suffolk County, 563 lives were saved last year alone; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago intends to provide its first responders with the necessary tools and training to save people's lives; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Chicago does hereby urge the Superintendent of the Department of Police to ex...
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