Two pressing issues impacting the latest 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting took center stage: robberies and opioid overdose awareness.

“Year-to-date, we have 26 more robberies than 2018,” said Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps, the Five-Two’s commanding officer. “We do notice that there remain pockets of crime, like St. James Park and gang violence, that we see as a cause for the increase.”

Alps also introduced seven new officers assigned to the precinct, expressing hope that an increased police presence on the streets will help reverse the trend in robberies. They also look to quash the number of overdoses that continue to plague the precinct’s jurisdiction.

In addressing the growing number of overdoses, Alps mentioned that so far in 2019, officers have responded to 17 non-fatal overdoses and seven that were fatal. The area of Fordham bordering Bedford Park has consistently stood as a bedrock for opioid

abuse. In 2017, the Five-Two, in coordination with federal authorities, rounded up several suspects charged with running an open air drug street market on East 194th Street and Marion Avenue.

“Back in the day, people would ‘cut’ drugs, in other words dilute them, so they could sell more product and make more profit,” said Herbert Quinones, an overdose prevention trainer for the city Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, who was invited to speak to the audience. “Now the problem is they [drug dealers] ‘cut’ cocaine or heroin with Fentanyl and it’s faster to OD now.”

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website, “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine. . . [It] is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin.”

Another twist in the opioid crisis is that it’s not just the hard drug user that is overdosing. Quinones mentioned how “there are people buying Xanax [commonly prescribed for anxiety] on the street, but it’s really Fentanyl.”

The trend of users buying prescription drugs on the street has led to a significant jump in overdoses across the country.

As for what the public can do, Quinones holds training sessions in the administering of naloxone, a nasal spray that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. A few steps must be taken to determine whether the victim will respond to a dose of naloxone, since it is meant specifically for opioid overdoses.

Those willing to be certified through the training receive a blue card to be carried at all times identifying them as a certified opioid overdose responder and receive an overdose rescue kit with two doses of naloxone.

Even if some aren’t willing to undergo this training, Quinones says we can all do something to help an overdose victim. “Call 911, tell them your location, and then tell them the situation of the person,” Quinones said.