City of Cocoa
Implementation Plans
FY 2023-2024 Plan
The Cocoa Police Department, under Commander Anthony Marchica, has outlined its plan for utilizing funds received from the Florida Opioid Settlement Agreement in a memo dated June 16, 2023. The department aims to prevent opioid misuse through various media campaigns and community education efforts. These include purchasing digital sign boards for dynamic visual messaging, printed materials for widespread information dissemination, and engaging the community through the Community Engagement Unit (CEU) in educational events at schools and other community gatherings. The CEU plans to distribute promotional items and utilize drug abuse educational tools to reinforce the message of drug-free living.
The department also intends to participate in the DEA’s “One Pill Can Kill” program by wrapping several police vehicles with opioid education messages to increase awareness throughout the community. This initiative has already shown promise in sparking conversations and raising awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse. To measure the effectiveness of these efforts, the Cocoa Police Department will track the usage of Narcan, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses, through their reporting system and a new overdose detection mapping system (ODMAP – HIDTA). This data will help identify overdose hotspots and assess the impact of their educational campaigns on reducing opioid misuse and overdoses. The memo lists specific items the department plans to purchase with the settlement funds, including vehicle wraps, digital sign boards, drug abuse consequence 3D displays, and various promotional materials designed to promote drug-free messages. These purchases are intended to provide vital resources for community education and engagement in the fight against opioid misuse.
This summary captures the essence of the Cocoa Police Department’s strategic plan to combat opioid misuse with the allocated settlement funds. It highlights the multifaceted approach involving media campaigns, community engagement, educational events, and the use of data for targeted interventions. The justification for this summarization lies in its focus on the key strategies and tools the department will employ, the rationale behind these choices, and the methods for measuring success, all of which are critical components of the department’s plan as outlined in the original memo.
FY 2024-2025 Plan
The Cocoa Police Department has outlined its plan for utilizing funds received from the Florida Opioid Settlement Agreement in a memo to the Department of Children and Families. The funds are intended to support efforts to prevent opioid misuse through various media campaigns and community education initiatives. These efforts include the purchase of digital sign boards for displaying educational content in public spaces, printed materials like brochures to disseminate information about the risks of opioid use, and promotional items to be distributed at community and school events.
The department’s Community Engagement Unit (CEU) will play a key role in these outreach activities, which aim to dispel myths about substance use, reduce stigma, and encourage individuals to seek treatment. The memo also details plans to enhance the visibility of the opioid misuse prevention message through vehicle wraps on police cars as part of the DEA’s “One Pill Can Kill” program. This initiative is designed to spark conversations within the community and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids.
Additionally, the department will continue to track the effectiveness of these efforts by monitoring Narcan usage and overdose incidents through their reporting system and the ODMAP – HIDTA overdose detection mapping system. This data will help in targeting areas that require more focused educational efforts and in measuring the success of the campaign by comparing overdose rates before and after the implementation of these initiatives. The memo concludes with a projected list of items the department plans to purchase with the opioid settlement funds, including vehicle wraps, digital sign boards, drug abuse consequence 3D displays, and various promotional materials designed to encourage drug-free lifestyles among community members, especially students. These purchases are all within the scope of the grant’s guidelines, and the department seeks approval to proceed with these acquisitions to enhance their community outreach and education efforts regarding opioid misuse.
This summary captures the essence of the Cocoa Police Department’s memo by highlighting the main objectives and strategies for utilizing the opioid settlement funds. It emphasizes the department’s commitment to preventing opioid misuse through education and community engagement, the specific initiatives planned, and the methods for tracking and measuring the impact of these efforts. The justification for this summarization approach lies in its focus on the actionable steps the department intends to take, the rationale behind these actions, and the expected outcomes, which are central to understanding the department’s strategy for addressing the opioid crisis in their community.