Here's a story run by our town newspaper recently. It refers to my friend's death (Chris Luebeck) and the growing problem. I haven't had a chance to read it yet myself (at work, just heard of it from a phone call), but I'll get back with my comments later...
Here's the Link, story below ---------------------
Officers arrested a Terryville woman Sunday in connection with a June 20 burglary that took place in broad daylight at the historic Sanford & Hawley building supply store on the corner of routes 4 and 167.
Police said three individuals walked in while the store was open and made off with $600 worth of copper flashing. An arrest warrant states they sold the merchandise to a scrap metal business for a percentage of its value.
Police said their intent was simple: they stole and traded the copper for money to buy heroin.
In another incident four weeks ago, police said a former resident walked into a Route 4 gas station wearing a friend's shirt over his head while brandishing a knife.
He wanted money. It didn't matter that he knew the clerk and would be easily recognized. It also didn't matter that his court case for his arrest for shooting up heroin with two others in the Unionville McDonald's was still pending.
Less than a month earlier, an East Farms resident died from a heroin overdose alone in a local park. About three weeks before his death, he was arrested by University of Connecticut Health Center police for carting an expensive piece of equipment out of the facility's library - presumably to pawn to get high. That same week, he was also arrested by Farmington and West Hartford police for possession of heroin.
In nearly every case, the same suspects have been arrested over and over again by Farmington police for both possession of heroin and for burglaries or thefts - even from their own families.
It's not an epidemic - one Farmington parent estimates that his son hung out with about 30 area kids who all used heroin before his death - but it is a phenomenon that most residents of the Farmington Valley don't expect.
"I don't think it's widespread - marijuana use is probably a lot more prevalent - but the thing is in a town like this, you don't have drug dealers on every corner," said Farmington Police Chief James Rio. "We don't have slums, so people aren't necessarily aware it's a problem. We know they go to Hartford to get it and we know our officers are aggressive with arrests."
Rio said his department made 92 possession of narcotics arrests from July 2004 to June 30, 2006. To be considered a narcotics arrest, the suspect must be in possession of heroin or cocaine.
Arrests for other types of drug possession are far more common. During the same time period, Farmington police made 175 arrests for possession of a controlled substance or possession of less than four ounces of marijuana. A controlled drug is defined by federal and state laws as a substance that induces stimulant or depressant effects and has a potential to become addictive. Farmington police also made nine arrests for possession of a hallucinogenic or more than four ounces of marijuana.
Rio said many of the arrests are out-of-towners traveling through, but he acknowledged that many were repeat offenders who live in town and who are perpetrating other crimes.
"We can't toss every single car that comes through here but we do when we have a suspicion there is something going on," Rio said. "We know it's out there. Can the police do a lot about it? I don't think so."
While Avon and Canton police report that they haven't seen much heroin drug activity in recent years, other area departments said they are seeing the same pattern of crime in their towns.
Burlington and Simsbury police admit they regularly deal with the crime associated with heroin use including burglaries, overdoses, and the occasional operation of a drug factory that draws customers from several towns.
And many of the crimes are limited to a small core of individuals ages 19 to 23 who are hooked on heroin and stealing to support their habit.
"I think the problem is a lot greater than the average person realizes," said Burlington State Trooper Ray Buthe. "I wouldn't call it an epidemic, but for the kids who are involved, it's such a serious matter. This drug is a poison and it can kill you the first time you use and it can kill you anytime you use it. It slows the heart rate and breathing. Every time you do it, you don't know if you're going to die."
Buthe said like Farmington, Burlington has a small group of kids that use heroin and commit burglaries to buy drugs.
"We can trace just about all of our daytime burglaries to drugs and the worst is heroin," Buthe said. "Even if we don't make an arrest, we usually conclude this is who likely did it and if I look back over the statistics, it's almost always connected to heroin."
Treatment specialists attribute the popularity of heroin in the suburbs to the cost.
"Usually the first drug of abuse is a prescription drug, but then the cost quickly becomes unmanageable," said Paul McLaughlin, executive director of the Hartford Dispensary, the largest drug rehabilitation program run by the state.
"You can be addicted to oxycontin and dish out $300 to $400 a day or you can use heroin at $50 to $70 a day," McLaughlin explained. "Most addicts are socially intelligent; they know heroin is more affordable."
Buthe said the low cost and a steady supply of heroin have only made the drug more accessible to suburban kids and adults.
"The price of heroin has actually come down where the price of everything else has gone up," Buthe said. "The supply is high right now, and when you have that, you'll have a lower price."
But Buthe said despite the low cost, since heroin is highly addictive, users become desperate and find inventive ways to steal from strangers and their family to get their hands on quick cash.
Farmington resident Mark Luebeck, who lost his 22-year-old son Chris to a heroin overdose on May 31, admits he and his wife had discovered gold and silver coins missing from their home in the weeks before their son's death. At this time of his death, Chris had several drug possession, burglary and larceny charges pending.
Buthe said it's not uncommon for him to receive reports three or four times a year that an entire neighborhood had vehicle break-ins during the overnight hours.
"It's always cars that were left unlocked and they always take one thing - the spare change left between the seats," Buthe said. "If you can hit 10 cars and get about $5 a car, that's enough for one day's high."
Buthe also said that daytime burglaries are popular with heroin addicts but they tend to only take items that won't be a hassle to pawn.
"Cash definitely, a bit of jewelry, even those jars of change your kids keep in their room," Buthe said. "We tell parents, if your kid is going to keep change in a bottle, deposit it in the bank at least once a month, because that's a prime target for drug burglaries."
Simsbury and Farmington police have both made highly publicized drug busts in the past seven months. Simsbury police said one drug operation sprung up at the Iron Horse Inn in early March.
By the time two area SWAT teams raided the operation in April, the police found two men selling several different types of drugs including heroin, cocaine and prescription medications out of three hotel rooms at the Inn.
Simsbury police also said they discovered during the course of the investigation that the patrons of the drug factory included residents of Unionville, Avon, New Hartford, Simsbury and Granby.
"It was people from all kinds of economic backgrounds," said Simsbury police officer Nick Boyoulter. "It's an issue everywhere; not just here, but out of state as well."
Farmington police busted a Lake Garda couple in December after neighbors reported suspicious activity taking place at the house. A police warrant indicates that the couple was purchasing as much as 1,500 one-hit bags of heroin a week from a Hartford drug dealer, which they would in turn sell to customers in Farmington for $10 a bag.
A warrant for the couple's arrest said that during the course of the investigation, local kids who were purchasing from the couple were also ratting them out to police, presumably in exchange for leniency as they themselves were being arrested for possession of heroin charges.
Rio said at one point, members of the same general group of kids who are known heroin users were found panhandling at Post Office Square on Main Street, probably in an attempt to gather drug money.
"We've had one kid who has overdosed three times. The best we can do is make people aware it's out there," Rio said. "We'll bring Drak (the town's new police canine) into the high school to increase the safety of the school. But we also know sometimes it's a matter of family dysfunction and even when it's not, families are having a hard time controlling it. There's not much the police can do about that. We are doing our share."
