New Jersey Cop OD’s While on Duty
New Jersey often gets implicated as the epicenter of the drug crisis. In 2004 when fentanyl started coming around and heroin was already a known problem, the strongest dope was notoriously from the Garden State and distributed throughout the Northeast. Overdoses spread like the plague and as more and more addicts took their last shot, New Jersey was often to blame. Oddly enough, while New Jersey dope was killing countless numbers of people, the more people flocked to areas like Paterson to get their hands on what was being considered at the time as the best heroin money could buy.
Fast-forward to the present and it seems like the whole U.S. is the epicenter for the drug crisis—not just one state in particular. But nevertheless, New Jersey remains one of the hardest-hit states where even the police are dying as a result of addiction.
Recently, a cop in Franklin Township, New Jersey, was found overdosed in his patrol car while on duty. The cop, Matthew D. Ellery, was found parked in the driveway of a business around 1 a.m. and was unresponsive to dispatch’s calls. The cop who went to check on him showed up on the scene and, realizing Ellery was experiencing an opioid overdose, he administered two doses of the life-saving drug, Narcan.
Ellery was arrested and charged with DUI and possession of heroin. He recently plead guilty to these charges after taking a plea deal that also required him to give up his job as a police officer. Additionally, he will have to participate in the county’s drug court program to avoid jail time.
This situation isn’t the first of its kind, but it’s one of the few to actually make news headlines. Cops not only encounter drugs, deal with and arrest addicts, and see the damage addiction has caused our society, but some of them are actually addicts themselves. Of course, as said repeatedly, no one—not even a cop—is immune to addiction. It can literally affect anyone no matter who you are or what you do for a living.
We’re in an unfortunate time for our society. More and more people are struggling with addiction than ever before and our city streets are beginning to resemble some post-apocalyptic landscape where even those who are entrusted to protect and serve the public are now sick and misbehaving themselves, thus furthering the destruction. In a world where it’s important to know who to trust, we all must be wary because not even the doctor, the lawyer, the judge, the cop, or the family member may have our best interests in mind. To fight the scourge of drugs, we must educate ourselves, know the true monster we’re dealing with and be our own counsel. When faced with a fork in the road, we must know which direction to take. The wrong choice can prove fatal, while the other enhances survival.
Ultimately, the choice is ours. It always has been, and it always will be.
Which direction will you choose?
Sources Used:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-jersey-cop-who-overdosed-heroin-patrol-car-while-duty
