Learn how to combat against fentanyl trafficking at Idaho Falls Town Hall meeting
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IDAHO FALLS — Local law enforcement have been warning people about the nationwide fentanyl epidemic for years, and the city of Idaho Falls is hosting a Town Hall next week so the public knows how to help.
The city is partnering with Idaho’s U.S. Attorney’s Office for “Community Impacts, Community Solutions: A Fentanyl Town Hall” at Taylorview Middle School on Nov. 19.
The purpose of the meeting is to educate people on what is happening with fentanyl on the national, state and local levels and how the community can make a difference.
Idaho’s U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit will give a presentation, and there will be panel discussions with local law enforcement, including the Idaho Falls Police Department, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police and the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Fentanyl is a deadly problem facing all of Idaho, including Idaho Falls,” Hurwit says in a news release. “I am so grateful to partner with the city of Idaho Falls to talk about this threat with the public. While we are well positioned to prosecute fentanyl traffickers, awareness and prevention are critical to making our communities unwelcoming to dealers in the first place.”
In 2022, Bonneville County Sheriff Sam Hulse told EastIdahoNews.com fentanyl arrests were at an all-time high. The surge of fentanyl in eastern Idaho, he said, is tied directly to the crisis at the US-Mexico border.
Earlier this year, Hulse released a letter from the American Sheriff Alliance explaining the number of illegal immigrants entering the country — more than 10.5 million since the beginning of fiscal year 2021 — poses a threat to public safety.
“The inability to secure our borders has … led to an influx of deadly, illicit drugs like fentanyl that are poisoning and killing members of our communities at unacceptably high rates. Over the last three years, we have witnessed an annual average of 107,000 people in America die from drug overdoses, with a large majority of those deaths involving fentanyl,” the sheriff’s alliance says in the letter.
Hulse wrote a separate letter in September, criticizing the Biden Administration’s policy changes in the way it handles asylum claims and the way they are processed.
“This administration pulled Border Patrol Agents from the border to processing areas to move those illegally entering the United States into the interior of our nation. This has increased the danger to citizens of our entire nation,” Hulse writes. “Our federal government is failing to adequately address the issue.”
Eastern Idaho Public Health will also be at Tuesday’s Town Hall, along with healthcare and recovery experts.
Community partners will be on hand to share valuable resources to keep Idaho Falls’ families safe.
“Every day, we hear stories about how fentanyl is impacting families across the county,” Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper says in a news release. “With this special Town Hall, we want to give our residents the information and resources they need to make a difference, keep a loved one safe or quickly respond in a time of crisis. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on this event, and value our strong working relationships with all local law enforcement agencies.”
The Town Hall is happening from 6:30 to 8 p.m.