Brauer, Picknell share common ground with multi-pronged approach to deter drug’s abuse
Sheriff candidates Ken Brauer and Kurt Picknell seem to be on the same page when it comes to a multi-directional approach being what is needed to tackle the influx of heroin in Walworth County.
Candidates’ viewpoints on the topic are provided in the following text in alphabetical order.
Brauer said unfortunately, a lot of times the department is already behind the “8-ball,” when it comes to the heroin situation, noting that when they make an arrest or receive information, it’s already too late.
Brauer said the department needs to begin looking at the individual instances, separating the users from the dealers and sometimes handling them differently.
“There are people that belong in jail, and then there are people that need to get help, the counseling, and it needs to be all-hands on deck, law enforcement, the criminal justice system, counselors,” he said. “The more people we have onboard, we can focus on the problem.”
Brauer said getting to children when they’re young and explaining the horrors of heroin is one of many places for the department to focus on, noting with the internet, children are seeing these types of things online at younger and younger ages.
“You’re not trying to scare the kids, but you have to give them that taste of this is what’s going to happen if you start going down this path, whether it’s starting with Marijuana, or something less-addictive than heroin,” he said.
Additionally, he said the department has to circle back and look at what started the situation rather than arrest and leave inmates to detox in jail. Providing options for aftercare and counseling, he said, is key in taking control of the heroin problem.
“If you are an addict, you’re always recovering, so we have to have people they can rely on whether it’s for the next week, year or ten years,” he said. “To try and eliminate just the drug from coming in to the community, yea, that’s a big issue, but as we all know if you take one person off, there’s always someone else that steps up to take over the business.
“There’s no simple answer and if there was, it’d be taken care of and you’d probably be rich because you could sell your program to everybody.”
Brauer said though it won’t be easy since they’re already behind the curve, the department needs to focus on not only the law enforcement aspect, but also preventing new people from falling victim to the addiction.
“I think a lot of that is the prescription painkillers, trying to address that problem, and it’s an uphill battle, a serious uphill battle,” he said. “That’s one thing we have to deal with, you can’t ignore it, it’s not going to go away.”
Though he said it will be a long battle and the department might not see results for several years, it needs to continue to try.
“It’s not a victimless crime, talk to the families that have lost kids or family members that have overdosed,” he said. “We have to deal with it because it’s going to get worse if it doesn’t get better.”
Picknell said with heroin being a very real and terribly addictive problem posing a threat to Walworth County, as well as others, the county has to approach it from multiple angles.
“The good news is that we can defeat heroin, but it will take hard work not just by law enforcement, but by the community as a whole,” he said. “You have to come at it from multiple directions of discipline.”
Picknell said he’s dedicated to a number of strategies he’s convinced can make a difference.
Picknell said diligent enforcement of heroin laws is a key approach to the problem, noting not only the hard work of the county’s drug unit, but its cooperation with local, state and federal law enforcement.
“We need to continue to fund this unit, lock up the dealers who profit from bringing this poison into our community, and I will make it clear that there will be no compromise with these criminals,” he said.
Moving beyond that, Picknell said public awareness is another key strategy as an addict’s craving for heroin often begins with prescription drugs.
“Our residents – from the parents of the elementary school children to the elderly – need to be educated that these drugs all too often serve as gateways to heroin abuse, they need to be carefully monitored,” he said.
He said the department has partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to produce an educational video that will be ready for distribution to area schools in the near future.
He said the sheriff’s office is also working with the district attorney’s office to create a community outreach program.
“By closely working with other agencies, departments and schools, we can educate the community that heroin is back and it’s killing our neighbors,” he said.
Picknell said he endorses the expansion of such educational programs throughout the county.
Picknell also said local treatment options for heroin addicts, as well as support for family, is equally important.
“The only way to truly defeat this threat is to break the cycle of addiction that leads addicts to break the law and fill our jails and prisons,” he said.
Picknell said he has been honored to participate in the formation of the county’s new drug court, which held its first session July 17.
“Participants began their supervised and structured treatment plan that will provide those who have been devastated by addiction with the opportunity to rebuild their lives and become productive citizens again,” he said.
