February 11, 2016
HORNELL NY – The Hornell Board of Public Safety met Thursday morning where Police Chief Ted Murray and Mayor Shawn Hogan discussed the problem of heroin in the city of Hornell. Murray told the mayor that the bags of heroin typically cost about $25.00, and that is for one dosage of the drug. Chief Murray went on to explain that some of the problem comes from people who are on prescription medications that are opiate based get shut off from their prescriptions from their doctor however have since become addicted to the opiates. The police chief said that addicts will sometimes turn to heroin, to feed their addiction.
Murray said, when asked by Hogan, if there was a noticeable spike in crime related to the heroin problem such as; theft, home invasion, and other related crimes, that they have not seen any related spikes in crime that are attributed to the drug problem but noted that the police department is monitoring that activity closely. It was added by Chief Murray that the Hornell Police Department would rather see people seek treatment for the addiction rather than putting them in jail, and noted that there is an addiction treatment center located right here in Hornell. Murray asked that if anyone feels they have a problem to come down to the police department and they police will assist them in getting the help that is needed.
