Forest County Potawatomi Leadership Meets with Wisconsin Attorney General

(l-r) Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, FCP Chairman Harold “Gus” Frank, Tribal Secretary Lorna Shawano, former Executive Council Member James Crawford and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Loomis
(l-r) Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, FCP Chairman Harold “Gus” Frank, Tribal Secretary Lorna Shawano, former Executive Council Member James Crawford and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Loomis
(l-r) Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, FCP Chairman Harold “Gus” Frank, Tribal Secretary Lorna Shawano, former Executive Council Member James Crawford and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Loomis

MADISON – FCP Chairman Harold “Gus” Frank, Tribal Secretary Lorna Shawano, former Executive Council Member James Crawford and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Loomis met with Wisconsin’s top cop, Attorney General Brad Schimel, at the end of October to discuss ways the state and the tribe can work together to combat the escalating use and sale of opiates and heroin in Forest County.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, elected in 2014, has made fighting prescription drug and heroin use and abuse a priority. “We’re going to hit them by land, air and sea,” Schimel told the Milwaukee JournalSentinel shortly after being elected, referring to drug dealers and those who are spreading addiction through the state.

“We know what is going on in our community and are committed to address the problems, but we can’t do it alone,” said FCP Chairman Frank. “We appreciate Attorney General Schimel recognizing and understanding the seriousness of this issue.”

Heroin use and overdose deaths have increased dramatically in Wisconsin, according to the state Department of Justice (DOJ). The increases reflect the national trend of prescription opiate addicts turning to heroin. According to the state Department of Health Services, the number of deaths with heroin as a contributing factor more than quintupled between 2003 and 2011, from 25 to 134. And in 2013, that number rose to 227.

The FCP Executive Council has tried to combat this increased drug activity in a few ways:

  • It now contracts with the Forest County Sheriff’s Department for the funding of two additional full-time officers dedicated to serving the FCP reservation.
  • The Executive Council has worked with the FCP Housing Department and FCP Security to evict tenants of known drug homes and remove non-members residing on the reservation that have been connected with illegal activity.
  • FCP also recently received a grant from U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish a Drug Court, which it is doing in conjunction with Forest County. Drug Courts have been found to be an effective tool to treat drug-addicted individuals and help reduce drug use and reduce crime in the areas they serve.

While these steps have been able to lower some of the on-reservation activity, unfortunately the activities are continuing – just at a different location off-reservation.

Potawatomi and DOJ talked about the following ways they can work together:

  • DOJ providing investigation and technical resources to assist Forest County law enforcement and prosecutors to arrest and convict those who traffic dangerous narcotics, especially those who deliver drugs that result in overdoses.
  • DOJ aggressively prosecuting heroin and opiate drug traffickers.
  • Expanding resources and training available to local law enforcement and prosecutors.

Brad Schimel was elected Wisconsin Attorney General on Nov. 4, 2014, and inaugurated Jan. 5, 2015. A frontline prosecutor first elected Waukesha County District Attorney in 2006, Schimel has pledged as Attorney General to put public safety over politics and to continue the fight against heroin, human traffickers, domestic violence and Internet predators.

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