In the week since debate erupted over the City of Boston’s approach to the opioid crisis, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins is calling for more “long-term solutions” and resources to tackle the impacts of the epidemic.

In an op-ed published in The Boston Globe on Monday, the sheriff said the attack on an officer from the county’s house of correction, which sparked Boston police to conduct two days of directed patrols in the area of Newmarket Square that resulted in more than 30 arrests, is indicative of a problem that the whole city is facing.

“Boston is in crisis” Tompkins wrote, pointing out that the opioid and homelessness crisis extends well beyond the area sometimes referred to as “Methadone Mile,” the stretch of city blocks surrounding Mass. Ave., Melnea Cass Boulevard, and Southampton Street, where shelters and recovery services are offered for those struggling with substance use disorders and addiction issues.


“Unfortunately, while many organizations — including our own — work to stem this rising tide of addiction, it’s not enough,” the sheriff wrote. “The water is too high, the current is too persistent, and our resources are too limited. This is utterly unacceptable. All of these neighborhoods must be returned to the livable/workable environments that residents and businesses rightly deserve, not for a day or a week, but permanently. To do any less is a failure of the collective leadership of Boston.”

He estimated that more than 70 percent of people taken into custody by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department are apprehended for “addiction-related crimes.”

“I see firsthand the devastating impact of addiction, not only on the directly afflicted but also on their families and our communities, while the opioid epidemic continues to rage,” the sheriff wrote.

Tompkins said he met with Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, and other city officials to discuss the issues around Newmarket Square. But he called for the inclusion of other local institutions, such as Boston Medical Center, in future discussions and “a coordinated funding approach to create and maintain more treatment and recovery beds.”

More long-term solutions are also needed, he wrote.


“Reestablishing Long Island is critical, but if bridge reconstruction remains stalled, other solutions must be considered,” Tompkins wrote. “Newmarket can’t wait, Boston can’t wait, and a vulnerable homeless population can’t wait.”

Read the full op-ed at the Globe.