MPD Joins the Hope Kit Initiative

MILWAUKEE, WI – The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) is pleased to announce that we will be participating in the Hope Kit Initiative. The Hope Kit initiative was created by Community Medical Services with a goal to save lives by distributing the kits to those at risk of overdosing.

Hope Kits contain Narcan, and are available to anyone in the community, no questions asked, to prevent overdose deaths. They reduce opioid related overdoses and provide harm reduction to those in our community struggling with opioid use and addiction.

Over the last few years, MPD has seen an increase in overdose related calls for service. From 2020 – 2022, MPD has administered Narcan 259 times.

MPD’s Advanced Crisis Intervention Team will distribute these Hope Kits eventually city-wide but will start in Districts 2 and 3 where overdose related calls for service are higher. The Team will provide education on the use of the Narcan kits, and also provide resources for those who may wish to seek treatment or counseling services for addiction.

MPD is grateful for Alderman Michael Murphy, who chairs the Milwaukee City-County Heroin, Opioid, and Cocaine Task Force, the Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative (MORI), and a community-wide collaboration between the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD), Milwaukee Health Department and other community stakeholders that initiated the distribution of Hope Kits in November of 2021. MPD is also grateful for the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office that is providing the Narcan for the Hope Kits.

Together we are better!

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.