DANVILLE, Va. – Fatal overdoses in Danville have dropped significantly over the past two years, according to new data from the Danville Police Department. Officials credit the decline to a community-driven approach that prioritizes treatment and prevention alongside enforcement.
The department reports that fatal overdoses have decreased by 30% compared to this time last year, while opioid-related overdoses have fallen by 37%.
Assistant Chief of Services Steve Richardson said the turnaround stems from a major policy change in 2019. Before then, police rarely responded to overdose calls, leaving that responsibility primarily to emergency medical services. Now, officers respond to every overdose in the city along with an investigator and trained clinician.
“We’ve had a real focus on how we deal with individuals suffering from different forms of addiction,” Richardson said.
The shift came with the launch of the Community Opioid Response Engagement, or CORE, program. The initiative connects overdose victims with recovery resources while also working to cut off the supply of dangerous drugs at the source.
“If you are going to distribute dangerous drugs in the City of Danville, our special investigations unit is going to find you. They’re going to charge you and you’re going to go to jail for a long time,” Richardson stressed.
To strengthen its outreach, the department partnered with Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services, which sends representatives to overdose scenes to connect victims with recovery options.
“We’ll provide them with materials and kind of see what’s going on and see if they’re receptive to treatment at the time,” said Dominick Grembi, Prevention Program Manager at Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services.
Grembi said one of the most effective tools in recovery efforts has been peer counselors — people who have lived through addiction themselves.
“A doctor or counselor can read in a book about withdraws or read in a book about this or that. but those people who’ve lived that experience are often able to connect with that person better,” he said.
Richardson added that the department’s approach has helped change community perceptions about law enforcement.
“It makes people more comfortable in reaching out to the police for help. (Eliminating) the perception of ‘If I call the police I’m going to jail.’ We work very hard to build that trust,” he said.
All Danville officers have also received crisis intervention training as part of the program, focusing on how to assist individuals experiencing addiction or mental health crises.
Police and community leaders say the results show that a collaborative approach to addiction can save lives — and strengthen trust between residents and law enforcement.