By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The East Troy Village Board approved Police Chief Alan Boyes’ request to equip the village’s squad cars with Narcan at the July 17 meeting.
The chief, who said he had previously been against having the drug, which is used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, in his officers squads, said he had changed his mind and wanted the village to purchase six units of the drug, at about $50 each.
“I’ve been opposed to Narcan for a long time because it’s a medication the officers have to administer,” Boyes said.
He went on to say because the department has seen overdoses and cited a recent incident where a Town of East Troy officer assisted with a village overdose situation and used Narcan successfully, he decided to go to a training session on the drug.
“I change my opinion after going to the class,” he said.
Trustee Matt Johnson said he liked the idea of the village police having access to the drug, not only for overdoses in the community, but for the safety of the officers who investigate the drug cases. Johnson said he had recently read about a police officer who was exposed to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and fellow officers had to use Narcan on him to save his life.
The board voted unanimously to purchase six units of Narcan, provide the training needed for the officers and keep the Police Department’s Narcan supply at six units.
Boyes told the board the cost of the Narcan and replacements could be paid for out of the Police Department’s budget.
Crowd Control Unit
Boyes had several requests on the agenda Monday night, including a request to participate in the Walworth County Crowd Control Unit.
In his memo to the board, Boyes wrote, “Walworth County Sheriff’s Office is putting together a multijurisdictional team to handle crowds at special events. This team will receive special training in crowd control and will train together as one unit. Currently when there is a potential event and a crowd that could overwhelm the local jurisdiction they request patrol units from multiple jurisdictions for assistance. These units are police with no special skill and who potentially have never worked together.
“The proposal is one team that can respond to any location in the county to assist the local jurisdictions. This team will train together and work as a team. Walworth County Sheriff’s Office will command and supply the majority of the team with local municipalities supplying one or two officers. I would like to supply two officers, one being Deputy Chief Swendrowski as one of the assistant commanders.”
Boyes told the board this was one way to give his officers options and other things to do within their jobs and could very well benefit the village with its event. He told the board the $2,500 to outfit the team member would be taken out of seizure funds and the only budget impact would be the cost of training time, which would be minimal and should be covered by the department’s operational budget.
The board approved the request.
The board also approved a request from Boyes to designate the Police Department as an Internet Purchase Exchange Location.
In his memo to the board, Boyes said the department will be listed on the OfferUp website and app to let residents know the Police Department is available for property exchanges.
