By Marquis Tindal
Battling Bulletin Student Writer
Cpl. James Nasella and Cpl. Bobby Frazier from the Ridley Park Police Department presented a powerful program called “Heroin Alert” on December 7th to the Drug and Alcohol Class at the Glen Mills Schools. The officers, who have a combined 40 plus years experience in law enforcement, talked about the dangers of heroin and how it can affect, destroy, and end lives.
“This new wave of heroin is nasty,” Cpl. Nasella said. “...This drug doesn’t care about you. The people who sell it don’t care.”
During the hour plus presentation, students had a chance to hear actual tapes of frantic 911 phone calls from people about family and friends who overdosed on heroin. Students saw the devastating aftermath of the heroin use described in these calls.
Cpl. Nasella (left in photo) also spoke about a deeply personal connection to heroin. He told the story about how he received a phone call from his sister about his niece, who graduated from high school with honors and was a standout lacrosse player, who overdosed on heroin after initially being prescribed painkillers for an ankle injury. Fearing what they would find, the family asked him to check on his niece who was not responding to their knocks on her door. Once Cpl. Nasella arrived at the home, he entered her room, where he found his niece dead in the fetal position.
“I had to go downstairs and tell my family members that she was dead,” Cpl. Nasella said. “I watched the medical examiner put a toe tag on my niece and put her in a body bag... she let the drug win.”
“Often times when we get there, it’s too late,” Cpl. Frazier (right in photo) said.
After his niece’s death, Nasella was determined to find out why she died and who she was involved with in the drug scene. Cpl. Nasella identified them and none of the friends she was partying with the night before she passed even showed up at the funeral to show their respects. Also, all of those people she was partying with that fateful night also eventually died from heroin overdoses.
Later in the presentation, the veteran police officers shared that because of the large population centers near here, including New York and Baltimore, Philadelphia is a “gateway city” for the purest form of heroin in the United States.
“We have the highest per capita heroin death rate in the country,” Cpl. Frazier said. “They’re coming from everywhere to buy this heroin, often times before it gets diluted, or “stepped on.”
He said using, and dealing, the drug is a dead end street.
“You’re not getting a pension by selling this drug- there are no benefits and you’ll end up locked up or dead,” Cpl. Frazier explained.
Before closing, Cpl. Nasella urged the students to make good decisions and learn from their mistakes.
“Good guys make bad decisions and we have to work hard to overcome them,” Cpl. Nasella said.