Bristol Looks To Bring Back Its Opioid Task Force

By Dean Wright, The Bristol Press

March 17, 2022

During the Bristol Police Commission Tuesday night, city officials stated that they want to bring back a regular opioid task force meeting as health concern focuses change with lower covid case rates.

“I know through covid we put a pause on the opioid task force that was created and maybe want to bring that back to light and get some suggestions and ideas and collaboration on how we move forward with implementing something for future reference,” said Commissioner Scott Rosado. “Because it was a great source of all the different parties coming together and resources we have in our community that benefit things of that nature.”

Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano said the topic had come up a few times in conversations he had been part of recently.

“My understanding is the opioid task force had not met regularly, especially through covid,’ said Caggiano. “I think Feb. 2021 was the last meeting. A lot of that early work that had been done really helped to drive some of these other programs that are starting to bear fruit.”

The mayor said he was “more than open” to look at reinitiating the meetings, potentially quarterly.

“This has never gone away. We all know that,” said Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould. “It’s something that’s been out there. It just didn’t get talked about a lot and had been overshadowed by covid.”

The chief said the department has continued to respond to opioid concerns throughout the pandemic and agreed with other city officials that it would be good to continue engaging in awareness outreach initiatives.

“My plan right now. . . is to probably pull the task force back together in April and set up potentially quarterly meetings at this point to bring the group back,” said Caggiano.

Gould said opioids have always been an issue, but one of the chief concerns of police was the percentage of problems connected with fentanyl, a stronger opioid utilized for pain management, and how often it’s cut with other drugs.

Rosado noted that the task force wasn’t just about opioids but also supporting mental health. City officials noted that programs born out of previous task force meetings continued to work to serve Bristol resident needs.