MANSFIELD — The multi-county METRICH drug task force will receive a $192,608 state grant through the RecoveryOhio program, the third time the enforcement unit has received such money since 2019.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced this week nearly three dozen local drug task forces in Ohio are receiving state support for their work to disrupt the drug trade and promote substance use awareness, prevention, and recovery.
More than $2.4 million in grants from the RecoveryOhio Law Enforcement Fund will be awarded among 32 drug task forces to:
— help them identify high-level drug traffickers;
— dismantle large drug trafficking organizations;
— interrupt the flow of money and drugs from international cartels;
— and prevent the sale of illegal narcotics to those suffering from substance use disorder.
“Illegal drugs harm too many Ohioans every year, and these grant funds will ensure that the state’s drug task forces can continue their daily battle to push back against this scourge,” DeWine said in a press release.
Mansfield police Chief Keith Porch, who noted the local task force also received grants from the fund in 2019 and 2021, said the METRICH grant request was for $240,000.
Money will be used in making undercover drug purchases, paying for equipment and officer overtime to pursue drug cases, Porch said.
It will also be used to support the “quick response team” through the Richland County Opiate Board.
Porch said the team, comprised of a law enforcement officer and a treatment advocate, responds to a residence after there has been a drug overdose.
“The team will make contact with that person, offer resources, do an assessment and try to get that person into treatment,” Porch said.
The QRTs have been used locally since 2017 and has made more than 800 visits in Richland County, according to the chief.
“Many times nobody will answer the door when we knock, but we have had a lot of success contacting family members and friends and getting information to them when we can’t get in touch with the actual overdose victim,” Porch said.
Not all counties in the METRICH region have such teams and Porch said the grant will help those locations pursue that option.
“The governor would like quick response teams in all counties,” the chief said.
Statewide, grant funding will also be used to support the mission of DeWine’s entire RecoveryOhio initiative, which aims to increase substance use and mental health awareness; implement age-appropriate prevention education in schools; and connect those who need help with treatment; and promote recovery.
DeWine worked in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly to secure funding for these grants in the biennial operating budget approved last month.
The grant program is administered by the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services.
METRICH started in 1986 as a cooperative effort between the Mansfield Police Department and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
It has grown to include nine more counties: Crawford, Huron, Morrow, Knox, Seneca, Marion, Ashland, Hancock and Wyandot.
About METRICH
METRICH is a 10-county, decentralized task force in North Central Ohio whose mission is to improve the quality of life for the citizens by reducing the availability of illegal drugs and weapons through proactive enforcement efforts.
The success of METRICH is a tribute to the cooperation and support within the Law Enforcement Community in the METRICH region and to those citizens who have chosen to improve the quality of life in their communities by assisting METRICH in reporting suspicious activity and valuable information.
