Law enforcement agencies and health centers in central Illinois are working together to address the opioid epidemic affecting their area as well as the country as a whole.
"Heroin is definitely our number one public safety threat," DeWitt County Sheriff Jered Shofner told The Pantagraph newspaper.
Shofner's office is among six agencies that make up the Illinois State Police Task Force 6 narcotics unit.
McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage says public education is key to fighting the surge of cases involving prescription drugs, which he says can be a path to heroin.
The police departments of Illinois State University and the City of Clinton also participate in the task force.
A Bloomington mental health crisis and detox center had to turn away 70 people with addictions in March, a recurring dilemma for the 14-bed facility.
Chestnut Health Systems is in the process of adding eight more beds to its crisis stabilization center for people experiencing a mental health or drug-related crisis.
