Opioid Initiatives - In The News
Sessions unveils plan to keep narcotics officers on the job longer in wake of opioid crisis
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that keeping federal investigators on the job past retirement will bulk up understaffed agencies in the wake of the opioid crisis.
Speaking to the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Opioid Roundtable, Mr. Sessions unveiled a three-prong plan to hang on to experienced narcotics officers.
The plan includes raising the retirement age to 60 instead of 57; bringing back already-retired agents to work part-time and contracting former state narcotics officers to work for federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“Why not see how many people we keep?” Mr. Sessions said. “That is like a new, well-trained, experienced person on the job.”
Mr. Sessions said the length of time it takes for a new agent to get up to speed is too long for a nation facing an epidemic drug crisis.
About 64,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016 and 42,000 of those deaths were related to opioids, according to Justice Department statistics. By keeping experienced agents on longer, law enforcement can better face the issue.