Annapolis committee hears overdose trends, data gaps and push to treat some deaths as homicides

The Public Safety Standing Committee of the City of Annapolis heard an Office of Emergency Management update March 2025 on overdose incidents, Narcan use and local response, with police and committee members pressing for clearer data and stronger avenues to hold dealers accountable.

Ms. Edna Jackson, a city council associate who stepped in for the Office of Emergency Management, summarized slides the committee was shown. “Narcan usage has been used in 60 percent of overdoses in Ward 8,” Jackson said while walking the committee through age, race and location breakdowns. She also said 80 percent of overdose victims in several recent years were Black/African American, and noted geographic clustering: “80 percent of them were along within 2 blocks of Madison Street.”

The presentation prompted committee members to question the way incidents are attributed. Alderman Gay asked why Ward 8 — “the second lowest African American population in the city” — showed one of the highest counts of African American overdose victims and suggested the city might be recording overdoses where they occur rather than where the person lives. “The data should be appropriated to where the individual lives, not where the overdose occurs,” Gay said, urging staff to provide both sets of numbers in future reports.

The city’s police leadership discussed how overdose cases are investigated and the evidentiary work that can support prosecution. Chief Ed Jackson of the Annapolis Police Department said police strive to identify sources when possible, collect electronic and trace evidence and work with federal partners. “Let’s not just take the report. Let’s try to find out where it came from,” the chief said, adding that investigators deliver leads to the state’s attorney’s office for charging decisions.

Committee members and police also discussed legislation pending in Annapolis’s state legislature intended to make it easier to charge suppliers after fatal overdoses. A council member present flagged a bill that would allow prosecutors to charge dealers when someone dies after ingesting a supplied drug; the committee discussed how local charging practices and medical examiner rulings interact with such legislation. “If you can show that a person deliberately put fentanyl out on the street, know what the end results could be,” Chief Jackson said, calling intent and proof questions that would be resolved in court and by prosecutors.

Members of the public reiterated interest in greater data transparency and asked for the OEM slides and underlying numbers. Bill Reichert, president of the Eastport Civic Association, asked explicitly whether the slides were publicly posted; staff responded the slides were available on the city’s legislative website. Reichert and other public speakers said clearer, timely release of incident classification (for example, whether overdoses are treated as isolated incidents or as part of larger distribution investigations) could reduce rumor and help civic groups target outreach.

The OEM presenter also noted a related community program: a Food Friday distribution that supplies fresh and nonperishable food to local households. Jackson said the program has grown from about 200 weekly boxes to roughly 275 and is provided in partnership with the Anne Arundel County Food Bank; she presented counts of recipients by neighborhood as part of the department’s community-support overview.

The committee asked staff to return with clarified overdose data that distinguishes place of overdose from place of residence and with additional details on investigative and charging pathways when overdoses are fatal. No formal motions or votes were taken on policy changes during the meeting.

The discussion underscored two themes that committee members pressed repeatedly: (1) provide both “overdose occurrence” and “residence-based” counts so patterns are not misread, and (2) ensure investigators collect and preserve evidence that would allow prosecutors to evaluate charges against suppliers when deaths occur.