Responding to the Opioid Crisis: The Orlando Police Department’s Overdose Investigative Unit

Central Florida, like many areas across the United States, has experienced an increase in opioid-related deaths. The Orlando Police Department formed an official unit with the main objective of responding to and investigating overdoses and reducing deaths, called the Overdose Investigative Unit. Since its inception in October 2020, the Unit has had four grand jury indictments for first-degree murder and 79 proactive arrests of fentanyl dealers. In this webinar, we are joined by Sgt. Stephen Marra and Sgt. Justin Lovett of the Overdose Investigative Unit to discuss why and how the unit was created, how it operates, and the success they’ve achieved with it. They will also share an overdose case study from the scene to the conviction, including video and radio audio of actual takedowns of overdose suspects.