Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Well, hello there and welcome back to another episode of Just say Something's weekly podcast. My name is Philip Clark and I welcome you back for a another session. And I'm really excited about what who we have with us today because without this partner, we can't do a lot of what we do. And so I would like to introduce everyone to Sergeant Natalie Hill with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. Hello, Officer Natalie.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: How are you? I'm good, I'm good. So tell our listeners how long you've been with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, your background there, and then where you are right now within the sheriff's office.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Okay. So I've been in law enforcement for the past 28 years.
Yes. But 20June 2001, I transitioned from a civilian position. It's kind of like I caught a bug and wanted to be a cop. And then I started with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and have been there ever since. So I'm right at 25 years as a certified law enforcement officer.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: So working with law enforcement, most agencies you have to work in uniform patrol when you first start, which means you are the deputy that responds to calls for services. Someone calls 911 or the non emergency, the deputy that shows up works for uniform patrol. But after about, I guess about six or seven years, I transferred from uniform patrol division to community services division. And so that's where I currently sit still with the community service division and what we do in the community services division. I'll say what I started off doing was basically prevention on a safety standpoint to where Internet safety for children and adults, church safety, teaching churches how to be safe, how conduct to conduct, safety teams, active shooter presentations to businesses, churches, schools, teaching people how not to become victims. Okay. And so for the past, what, over 15 years, that's what I've been doing. But since the past, I'll say seven years, with the purpose that I'm here today to talk about the substance use disorder.
Sheriff Lewis in 2020 determined that we needed to do something more in reference to the prevention side of the substance use disorder. Or at that point in time, it was specific to opioids.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: And so that's where I'm at now. But I have kind of like dual roles. Well, not dual. I have triple roles and then some. But I oversee the opioid program when it comes to the prevention side of it. But then I still have my duties in reference to crime prevention and everything else.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Okay, so a little bit about your crime prevention piece, then we'll get into the opioid piece. Okay, so if I'm sitting out there and I'm listening to this and I'm a member of a congregation, I've never thought about, why would I need the, the police to come and do a workshop about church safety? What is that?
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Well, over the years, we've seen an increase in active shooter events in churches. And so whether it's per provoked and when I say that sometimes you have people that may have an incident with a pastor or there may be a situation between several people in a church. And so you have people that will come to a church and will actively utilize weapons to hurt people and sometimes kill people. And so throughout the years, there has been an increase for churches to actually have their own safety teams in the churches, which usually consist of deacons and any volunteers that are part of the church, whether it's child care workers in the church, nurses, firefighters, whoever makes up the church. If they are willing and wanting to participate in any volunteer role, then we recommend they be a part of the church safety team. And so what we do is we go in and we share training on, first of all, why there's a need. Because at one point it will. We were, we would say if this happened, sorry about that. But at this point in time, most people say when this happened, we want to be prepared.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: And so it's a prevention to where you don't wait for something to happen. Let us teach you how to keep it from happening. And so what we do is we'll go in and we'll do a safety assessment of the property, where we'll look at what system they have set up now in reference to safety, in reference to the locks on the doors, the security system. We look at the landscape and different things like that. And then we make recommendations what they can do to make their church a little bit safer. And then teach the volunteers what, what to do if there's an active shooter. Because what we've seen in the past, whether it was an active shooter event at a church or at a school, once upon a time, people would not play an active role. It was like they would wait for their turn to actually be shot. And so we want people to know that you don't do that. You have to protect yourself and anybody else that is around you. And not only that, but you have the right to protect yourself and the people that you are around. And so we just basically reiterate the safety and the protection and then give people tools in a congregation at a church on what they can do to be safe.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Wow.
My, how things have changed.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Yes, yes. In a lot of different ways.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. So Greenville County Sheriff's Office, as our listeners know, are part of our, our Power Collective, which is our opioid prevention awareness and education program that we have through the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund. And in that program, we have Rise Prevention, Unity Health on Maine, Mental Health America, Greenville county, who manages our 988, and then NAMI of Greenville, and then the Sheriff's office. So you mentioned earlier that Sheriff Lewis is like, okay, we need to do more in the prevention and education awareness around opioids.
So let our listeners know some of the activities that you and the sheriff's office have under the opioid or Power Collective umbrella.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Okay, so prevention, of course, going out, sharing information and tying that prevention piece in with substance use. Because a lot of times different events occur because of mental health issues and things like that. And so I think in the past, I'll say 10 years, safety, law enforcement and mental health and other organizations has come together to see what we can do as a team versus individual agencies and organizations and seem to be working so far. And so some of the things that we've been doing in the schools, I'll say, like, right in the past, in September, was it? No, October. So October has always been Prevention Month. And then of course, it has always been Red Ribbon. And so our Red Ribbon Week during the month of October. And so tying in the Power Collective to that and providing additional resources. There have always been community members that want to know more about drug prevention. But now when we get people that will come out and request us to come in for whatever reason, if they don't know, we always suggest, let's talk about the Power Collective and the prevention of opioid use or substance use disorder and also teaching people about the safety of it. Because just imagine being a parent, not knowing that your loved one may be utilizing drugs and you happen to walk into their bedroom and they are collapsed and you don't know what to do. You don't even know where to start. And so what Power Collective does, it gives people that tool that they need. Just like cpr. You know, you find somebody choking, you want to be prepared to be able to help them or render first aid. But with substance use disorder and opioids, we want people to have that same empowerment to where if something happens, what are some of the things that I can do? And so with the Power Collective, we're able to educate community members. We're Able to share the awareness of what to do if this happened. Some of the signs to look for. And then not only that, but just to share information to where know you got a lot of people that say, oh, it doesn't happen on this side of the track.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: You know, I was just about to ask you about that. So you know. Oh, not our Greenville.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: Absolutely, yes. So our Greenville.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: So let our listeners know some about our Greenville.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Okay, so our thinking about Greenville county and thinking about substance use and, and opioids and overdose cases.
What is the word I want to use?
Discrimination.
Overdose cases and drugs does not discriminate. You got your blacks, your whites, your browns, you got your old, your young, you have your middle age, you have your low class, your middle class, your high class.
Opioids and substance use disorder does not discriminate. And we've seen it on all levels, from the east side to the west side, from the south end to the north side of Greenville. It's all over Greenville. And we see it. And so, you know, there's always some type of, what's the word I want to use?
Stigma when it comes to how dare my child be caught up in something like this? Or how dare this happens to my family. But with Power Collective and the different things that we're doing, we're able to educate everybody, share prevention information to everybody, provide the tools and set up table displays and educational events throughout Greenville county so that we're there. We may not be invited, but we're there. And as people come out to gather information, for whatever reason, they may come across our table that says Power Collective. And when they ask, tell us a little bit about this. This gives us the opportunity to make people aware of what's going on, educate them and then even be able to say, it may not apply to you, but it's important that you know, because we have people that may be at a Spinks gas station or not to call out Spinks or. But any gas station in Greenville county or a hotel somewhere and they find somebody that has collapsed in the bathroom, collapsed in the vehicle, and not knowing what to do is frightening. But then also if you're prepared and if you have Narcan, because we administer or we give Narcan and then teach people how to administer. And so when you are aware and you know the different prevention techniques and things that are out there, we can help others save lives. You know, of course, law enforcement, that's what we want to do on a day to day basis, save lives. But when, when we can equip other people in Greenville county to save lives as well. It makes things a lot better for us as a whole.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Yeah, it really does. It's.
I could go on and on.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: There's just so much there.
And for a lot of our community, they don't know what they don't know.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Yes. And so tell our listeners or share with our listeners what you think one of the biggest obstacles is about educating and preventing opioid that our community doesn't really know or acknowledge.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: That's a good question. And I was contemplating on what, what is the best answer for that?
A lot of times in a lot of agencies you don't have the buy in from all law enforcement. Of course, because think about, well, we mentioned it earlier.
It doesn't happen on my side of the tracks or it couldn't happen to my family. And so a lot of times unless you are affected, you really don't want to get involved. And so what we see is that when we have people that feel like, okay, it's really none of my business, I'm not going to do anything about it or I'm not going to engage, I don't want to know anything about it, then that tends to hinder a lot of things in Greenville County. And so if we could get the buy in of more people, you know, the funding that comes throughout the state, that's a huge help. But having the buy in from more people, because there is so many cases, overdose cases, there's so many cases of our youth that are trying drugs, whether it's vaping, whether it's utilizing edibles, somebody giving you an edible and you eat it. Our children are suffering. And so I think the obstacles, the greatest obstacle I see is not having enough buy in and then not having enough people that are doing something about it because one person can't do it by themselves. And so that's one of the reasons I greatly appreciate our partnership with Just say Something and the Power Collective because it allows us to come together, one group for the same purpose and it makes a difference. But I would say that would be the obstacle, having more people to have a buy in and being willing and able to do something about it.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: That's great because as we look at the community, you and I know this, but I'm willing to bet any room that you're in, any space that you occupy with other people, at least 80% of those people will know of or be related to someone that has died from opioids.
[00:16:09] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: And so we all have a part or a piece in this to continue to be able to raise the awareness and prevent. Because you never know whose life you're going to save just by talking about it.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: Absolutely, I agree with that. You know, I would like to mention.
So every year, you know, we have the national prevention and awareness, Fentanyl awareness and prevention.
And what we do during this time is we invite family members to be a part of this night. And so we invite people in and what we tell them to do is wear a T shirt, bring them some type of memorial of your loved one. And it seems like every year that number grows. And we also invite agencies to participate for this evening. And what that does, it allows any family member, whether they have lost their loved one within the past couple weeks or a couple of months, or if they've lost their loved ones in the past year or several years, it brings these families together and allow them to grieve with each other because there's a lot of grieving. It allows them to educate each other and share the importance of grief counseling, the importance of awareness and prevention. And then it also kind of empowers them again to say, okay, I may have lost my loved one to this, but what can I do to prevent someone else from dying? And so I think as we continue to move forward as the Power Collective, continuing to do things like this and some of the other things that we've done in reference to Fentanyl High, allowing more and more community members, and these are free events, more and more community members to be a part so they can learn as much as they can so that we don't have to continue to be in those rooms to where they're growing every year, more and more people are dying.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Right. So as you mentioned, events and activities. So as we start to bring this to a close, what type of community events or opportunities are out there that the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and Power Collective can be a part of?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Okay, so. Well, we could be a part of any, any event.
We encourage community members to reach out to us and let us help them when they're planning events. I know in January, starting next year, as community members start planning events, whether it's summer events or church events, different things like that. Love for them to invite us in and let us come in, whether we do a table display or whatever that community needs, because the requests are based on their needs. And so all they have to do is reach out to us and say, hey, we're planning this event. Would you come out and help us? Now, I know every year we do have Some different events, like in April, we have the Alcohol Prevention Month. And then of course, going back to October, which is our crime prevention Month, and Red Ribbon Week. And then going back to August, we have the National Night Out. And so there are a lot of different events that we're already doing. And so we just encourage the community members to reach out to us and let us help them plan their next events and let us be a part because it does make a difference. And then only that to be able to allow community members to see a different side of law enforcement enforcement. Because actuality, a lot of times the only time they see us is if we're in their community taking somebody to jail.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Or stopping them for a traffic violation. But there is a prevention side of law enforcement or a community service division side of law enforcement from the sheriff's office. And we'd love to come out and do what we can.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Provide any assistance.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: So if someone wants a program.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: How do they get in touch with you?
[00:20:38] Speaker B: They can call me, they can email me.
They can call me at 864-467-5577. And then I take emails. First initial N, last name Hill, H I, L, l@greenville county.org which is spelled out so they can reach me by email. They can even. Well, they can't text me on that number. That's an office number. But I will give you my county sale, which is 864-419-6322. And they can text me on that number so I can be reached always.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: And I know that because I reach out a lot.
And so I appreciate our partnership with your division, with you and with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. Because if it were not for you, we couldn't do everything that we can do to keep our community healthy and safe.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: And that's important.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Thank you very much.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: So, Sergeant Hill, thank you for being with us today.
I hope that we're able to have you back maybe in the springtime.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: That would be awesome.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: And with that, our listeners, I will bid you ado.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: Can I give a shout out to Captain Cromartie?
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Oh, yes, Captain Cromartie. Where would we be without Captain Cromartie? Absolutely.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: So shout out to her and the sheriff for allowing us to have this division to be able to be the impact that we are with Power Collective and in the community.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Right.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. Thank you, Sheriff Lewis. We appreciate you and Captain Cromartie and your whole team. So with that, listeners, thank you again for tuning in this week and you can always reach us here at just say something 864-467499 or you can find us on the Internet at just say something sc.org and I want to again, thank you for listening and we will be seeing you soon. Thanks, Bye.
