A more compassionate form of police response to drug abuse being practiced in Ulster County is paying dividends, measured in both money gained and human lives spared.
Just awarded another $1.3 million on October 20, the program developed under the leadership of sheriff Juan Figueroa is known by the acronym ORACLE (Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement). Oracle has been piling up accolades since its introduction in 2019.
“The first grant that we got was $900,000,” explained Figueroa to a crowd of police, politicians and journalists gathered at his offices for the press conference, “which allowed us to hire the high-risk mitigation team, which is our social worker and peer advocates.”
It may sound strange to hear a county sheriff speak about social workers and peer advocates, but it shouldn’t be. Chief Joe Sinagra of Saugerties and chief Egidio Tinti of Kingston, both in the room, also use the same terminology.
“For the first time in the history of law enforcement,” said Figueroa, “we have peer advocates and social workers that are going out and putting people into rehab rather than the county jail.”
Alarmed by the thousands of New Yorkers dying every year in what was then called the opioid crisis, findings offered up by a state commission in 2016 co-chaired by lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul had attempted to simplify the disorientating cycle of chemical abuse, crime and death into a four-pronged pitchfork, identifying prevention, treatment, recovery and enforcement as the sharp points to be wrestled with.
An excerpt from the commission’s report recommended adding fentanyl to the schedule of controlled substances, describing it as a synthetic opiate more potent than heroin. The report recognized its responsibility for an increasing number of overdose deaths, a hint of the pharmaceutical-grade responsibility to the crisis that was becoming clear.
By 2018 an Ulster County commission submitted its own report to county executive Pat Ryan with one prong of the pitchfork removed. Treatment and recovery were combined as one.
What made Oracle so novel when it was created in 2019 was that it zeroed in on providing treatment and recovery solutions within the county law-enforcement apparatus, historically concerned with prevention and punishment, that is, with interrupting illegal supply or purchase.
To pursue community engagement and education, the sheriff’s office purchased a trailer with money donated by the families of overdose victims. The high-risk mitigation team was created with the goal of reducing opioid fatalities in Kingston. Social workers and peer advocates were utilized. The sheriff’s program claimed a drop of 40 percent from January 2021 to September 2022 in overdose-related fatalities.
Though correlation need not be causation, 2497 naloxone kits were distributed in the same period. In prevention circles, naloxone is a nasal spray celebrated for its ability to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses.
Join the family! 
