Since January 2021, there were 330 overdoses known to law enforcement. Of these, 258 were nonfatal, and 72 were fatal. The areas of interest, were the CLEAN Target Area (TA), Monroe County, and Rochester (Excluding TA).
The data for the last 4 ½ years indicate a downward trend, with a much steeper decline in Rochester than in the Towns and Villages. In the last year, Rochester had three of the lowest months of overdoses since 2018 (October, February, May). Meanwhile, overdoses in the towns and villages have been more stable.
Project CLEAN has been underway since 2017 in the mid-North Clinton Ave area, partnering with Trillium Health and the Father Tracy Advocacy Center, as well as others, to create a safe zone for drug users, reduce drug use by providing services for every stage of life (housing, food, healthcare, etc.) and practice harm reduction with needle and NARCAN (Naloxone) exchange. It has also placed immense importance on data collection on several factors of neighborhood safety and understanding the true nature of opioid drug use during 2021, post-pandemic.
Measuring the rate of reported overdoses in the CLEAN Target Area against others around Monroe County and Rochester gives an idea of how impactful community aid from project CLEAN is on the overall drug use of the neighborhood, and it's formation into a safe environment for users.
Location Type
While overdoses in the CLEAN Target Area continued to occur outside in 2021, the number and proportion of open-air overdoses decreased from 2019 (54%) to 2021 (25%), less than half. The proportion of overdoses that occurred in a vehicle increased from 5% in 2019 to 13% in 2021. This could be related to fewer places to openly use during/after the COVID-19 pandemic. In Rochester (excluding the TA), the majority of overdoses were at a residence (59%) followed by outside/street (19%). In the towns and villages, 68% of the overdoses continue to occur inside a residence.
A residence is defined here as a shelter of any kind, whether a home of a family member or acquaintance, a residency of the drug user, or vacant property.
RPD Car Beat Arrest Rate
RPD car beats with the highest volume of overdoses shifted over the last 18 months. The tables below show the top ten car beats with the highest concentration of overdoses over the last 4 ½ years. Car beats ending in “7” are located in Clinton section (shaded green), ending in “1” are located in Lake section, ending in “3” are located in Genesee section, ending in “5” are located in Genesee section, and ending in “9” are located in Downtown/Central section. Below the tables is a map of RPD car beats.
When looking at the most recent 6 months, the data indicate that the same trend is continuing, with only one car beat in the top ten that is located in the Clinton Section. Lake sections have a higher proportion of overdoses than the Clinton section during the most recent time period.
In terms of race/ethnicity, the first six months of 2021 indicate that white, non-Hispanic individuals continue to be the largest proportion of overdose victims. However, Black individuals are the second most common demographic group, followed by Latinos. Overdoses by Black individuals continue to increase in proportion and number, from 9% in 2018 (n = 102), to 11% (n = 91) in 2019, to 15% (n = 107) in 2020. White overdose victims are younger on average (36.9 years old), while Black overdose victims are older (44.4 years old). The average age of Latino overdose victims increased from 36.7 in 2020 to 43.6 years. The overdose victims in the CLEAN target area were racially diverse, with the most common race/ethnicity being Latino, followed by two white and two black overdose victims.
The rise or decline in the age of the average overdose victim over a period of time cannot be attributed to one single factor.
Usually, those who overdose in urban areas may not come from the areas they use within. In the case of the Clean TA and Monroe County overall, most come from outside Rochester, however, repeated use usually comes from people staying not far by virtue of access to the zone of use. However, it is likely that this may also be due to neighborhood change, new drugs being introduced and vulnerability due to health complications, smaller circles of people all taking one batch of laced drugs, or a host of other purely environmental factors. In 2020,
Overdoses are not as concentrated in the CLEAN TA, and overall, have decreased since last year.
However, there are still many other considerations. First, overdoses do seem to be shifting to the west side, near Dewey and Edgerton, in the Lake section of RPD. This is likely impacting the neighborhoods.
4/5 overdoses are unreported in the CLEAN TA
This follows a trend with using RPD data. for instance, the proportion of overdoses that occur in the towns/villages continues to increase. However, the data presented are 911 calls, so it is really measuring the number of incidents that someone called 911 for an overdose. It is possible that overdoses in the towns result in a higher volume of calls to 911 than overdoses that occur in the city. However, exactly the opposite is true in the CLEAN TA, where drug use is more prevalent, and less reported.
Community Engagement Patrol and Post Car data, along with street outreach data and community observations indicate that open-drug drug sales continue in the El Camino neighborhood. In addition to the Project CLEAN interventions, there has been a lot of development in the El Camino neighborhood, which may also contribute to the shifting hot spots.
The data also indicate that while overdoses are decreasing in the CLEAN target area, they still occur out in the open, in public spaces. Further, overdose victims are also significantly older in Rochester (average age = 42 years) than in the towns/villages (average age = 36.5 years). It is not known why this age difference was found. Males continue to be the most frequent overdose victim. Finally, the proportion of Black overdose victims continues to increase. More data is needed to understand why this is. For example, are more Black individuals starting to use opioids and/or other drugs? Is NARCAN less accessible to the Black community?
Community involvement and more subjective research are needed to fully explain these consistencies/discrepancies in data between 2020 and 2021.
©Janelle Duda-Banwar, Dr. Irshad Altheimer and Mattie Neretin