Franklin County Sheriff’s initiative gets help to those struggling with addiction

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office held a multi-day initiative to help people struggling with addiction connect to much-needed resources.

The initiative was called Operation BRIDGE, which stands for Bridging Recovery and Interdiction Data Gathering Enforcement.

The sheriff’s office said there are many people in central Ohio who are addicted to drugs and some are engaged in sex work just to survive. The goal of Operation BRIDGE was to help people break out of this relentless cycle.

“The hope, I guess you can say, is that these people realize there is a way out of the cycle of substance abuse,” said Sgt. Jeff Zech with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Zech said during the operation he was on the lookout for people on the street who appeared to be addicted to drugs and needed help.

“It’s really geared toward getting these people into treatment programs, which will benefit them more than just taking them to jail, locking them up and walking away,” Zech said.

Through Operation BRIDGE, sheriff’s deputies would reach out and try to reach out to people struggling with addiction who may be using sex work to get out.

Most of the people they approached were not required to get in the car and go with the deputy, but if they did, they were taken to a resource area.

“Once they realize we’re not executing people on warrants, we’re not necessarily trying to take somebody to jail, they’re a little more receptive to that,” Zech said.

In the resource area, people were able to connect with health care, food, Narcan, clothing and water. They were also given the option of being taken from there for treatment.

“If someone says they want a treatment service, we can get them there right now, instead of having to wait a couple of weeks or a month for a bed to open up,” Zech said.

Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said Operation BRIDGE has been a huge success in recent years.

“To keep responding and putting people in jail and going back and doing it over and over again doesn’t really accomplish the goal,” Baldwin said. “So our goal is to have more services available immediately and hopefully impact someone’s life and save it and break that cycle.”

Baldwin said last year, several people went directly into drug addiction treatment programs.

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