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Chief Bashore: The Final Chapter
((Banner:
The
Living America’s Opioid Nightmare))
((Popup Banner
More than 115 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses.
VOA looks at three stories from the epidemic))
((Producers: Chris Simkins, Jeff Swicord, Jacquelyn De Phillips))
((Camera: Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Zak Ciotti, Marcus Harton))
((Map: Nashville, North Carolina))
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((Locator: Hope Initiative Meeting))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((Michelle Parrish, Volunteer Coordinator))
((NATS))
Michelle: Okay, so you have to tell Kerry your news.
Kerry: So I need to sit down?
Michelle: Yes.
Bashore: Have you seen the news? Any news?
Bashore: You don’t watch the news?
Kerry: No.
Bashore: You weren't watching WRAL last night at 10 o'clock?
Kerry: I don't have cable.
Bashore: Well that's good. Apparently, there was an announcement last night that I'm retiring on December 31st. And it’s true.
((NATS))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Change is difficult for some people. I, on the other hand, thrive on change but it's always difficult to say goodbye. I remember when I left Rocky Mount it was hard to say goodbye over there. I'm a type of person that, you know, I'm not going to stop working. I always want to be able to do something and so, new opportunities are a way to kind of reinvigorate myself in doing things for larger groups of individuals so that’s really where my emphasis is going to be.
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((Locator: Hope Initiative Rally))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((NATS))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Bashore: Are they in recovery now or are they still struggling?
Man: They still struggling.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
The community in Nashville has been extremely supportive. I've been here a good long while now. A lot of people know of me or have seen me in and around town. Most of all I think that notoriety comes from the Hope Initiative but the small town police departments, I think, do a really good job of connecting with the community.
Bashore: Hello, how are you?
Little Girl: Hello.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
I think the future of the Hope Initiative is bright. I really do and I feel that those individuals that want to get into recovery will still be able to find that in the Hope Initiative, no matter who's kind of driving the bus.
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((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((Michelle Parrish, Volunteer Coordinator))
((NATS))
Bashore: The announcement is that I'm going to retire December 31st. So that's three weeks away and you all have been working on having the Hope Initiative kind of become its own entity.
Other Volunteer: Dumped at Christmas time.
Bashore: Dang! That’s horrible.
Michelle: I know, right!
Bashore: It's better than a Dear John letter.
Michelle: True.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
They have been concerned for quite some time now about what would happen if I did leave and what would happen to the program. All of them are very passionate about helping individuals and so obviously they don't want it to disappear and so, I really was there to reassure them that it wasn't going to disappear.
Michelle: We, I guess, can fill your shoes.
Bashore: It's a size ten. It is not that big.
Michelle: So….
Bashore: You will be fine. If I didn't think you guys could handle this I wouldn’t, I would come up with some alternative. Trust me it will be fine. As long as you keep focused on the whole reason we're doing it, is to help somebody get their life back together, and if you're willing to do whatever it takes for them because they can't do it for themselves or they don't know where to turn or who to call, then you're doing everything you can.
Michelle: Right.
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((Locator: Governor’s Mansion; Raleigh, North Carolina))
((Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina)).))
((NATS))
Bashore: Governor Cooper is from Nash County.
Cooper: Good morning, Chief. It’s great to see you.
Bashore: He grew up here in Nashville. He's got very close ties here.
Cooper: Thank you so much for looking after my home town.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
My agenda with him was to try to let him have an understanding that a lot of the programs that, like the Hope initiative, that are popping up around the state of North Carolina, are grass roots and access to funding can be a stumbling block.
Bashore: I just wanted to talk about some of the things in reference to the opioid epidemic in the state of North Carolina and what are some of the initiatives that are being done by this state.
Cooper: You know just like most of the rest of the country, the opioid epidemic has been a scourge on our people. Death after death after death. As chief of the police force, you see this problem on the front line and we've had a lot of issues with substance use disorder in the past but the way opioids grip someone and how long of a process it is to be successfully treated, this was unlike anything that they had ever seen before. And probably the most important thing is prevention and treatment.
Bashore: Is the federal government helping us any in North Carolina as far as funding sources?
Cooper: We've been able to get a waiver in our Medicaid program to use more of our Medicaid dollars both for inpatient and outpatient treatment for people with substance use disorder but our state has shot itself in the foot in that our legislature has refused to expand Medicaid. What we have to do is to find that happy medium of making it easier for groups like yours but at the same time being responsible with taxpayer money because there is not enough of it to go around.
Bashore: Sure.
Cooper: And we’ve got to make sure that it gets to the places that are making a difference and that are working.
Bashore: Well, you definitely have my support.
Cooper: Let's go get it.
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((Locator: Healing Transitions Recovery Center))
((Sherry Vann, Recovering Addict))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((NATS))
Sherry: Hi.
Bashore: Hi.
Sherry: How are you?
Bashore: Good. How are you?
Sherry: Good.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
It's always nice to be able to go back and check on individuals that are in programs. I went to visit Sherry she talked about how she had had almost five months of good time there and then she used again.
Bashore: So, then what happened?
Sherry: So, I had an appointment downtown and I rode on the bus with another girlfriend. While we were on the bus, there was a guy that pulled out a huge knot of heroin and once he found out that we were from this rehab, so people like that prey on the weak.
Bashore: Exactly.
Sherry: For sure. I got off two stops down the road to a McDonald's and he got off right behind me and my girlfriend. She went to the bathroom. I ordered our coffee and I had like ten, eleven dollars left over in change and I was like look I'll give you ten dollars.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Statistically, individuals that have a substance use disorder, will return to use four or five times before they get into a long term sustained recovery. People think 'Oh, we got you help and you went and used again. Why did you do that?' So, the more you understand about the disease, you kind of understand a little bit better about, yes that is a possibility but that doesn't make the person not want to get into recovery.
Sherry: I don't know if it was the combination of me being clean for so long or it just being straight Fentanyl but I didn’t have any recollection of me going out.
Bashore: Wow.
Sherry: As they were getting ready to carry me back into the ambulance, I started to come to from the oxygen.
Bashore: Did they have to use Narcan?
Sherry: They did. She was able to tell me I'm going to have to hit you with this Narcan and I looked at her and I said, can we wait 20 or 30 minutes? and she said, ‘I can't let you do that.’ And so just as soon as she hit me with that Narcan, she was pulling out a nausea pill, but as, right before the needle came out of me, I threw up everywhere. It was terrible and I just looked at her and I said, no more, no more, you know.
Bashore: Well, I'm glad you made it through.
Sherry: Me too.
Bashore: I'm expecting big things out of you.
Sherry: I know. I can't wait, a year from now, just to see where I'm at and how I feel because I feel absolutely blessed beyond words.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
There was no disappoint whatsoever. I mean I was more elated and happy about her self-reflection and how it happened and that she stuck it out and was serious about continuing her recovery.
Bashore: Thank you again, Sherry.
Sherry: You’re so welcome. Thank you.
Bashore: I appreciate the time you’ve given us.
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((Locator: Candlelight Vigil))
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((NATS))
We light these candles for our loved ones.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
The individuals that we've lost that have come through the Hope initiative, through this disease. It has kept me up at night sometimes. To go to a funeral and be there with so many young people that are still struggling with the disease who are there to support their friend who has passed from an overdose, it's hard to watch sometimes because you just want to reach out and touch all of them and you know you won't be able to. The program wasn't about me. It was about helping other individuals and so it's just a matter of having a good solid understanding and mission about what it is you want to do and anybody can do it.
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((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
((Michelle Parrish, Volunteer Coordinator))
((NATS))
Michelle: I think there's always going to be a need for this.
Bashore: Oh absolutely.
Michelle: I mean, its heroin right now.
Bashore: That’s right.
Michelle: You know next year is Fentanyl, Cocaine.
Bashore: The big swing is going to be probably Benzos.
Michelle: Right.
Bashore: Xanax and that kind of stuff. And so….
Other volunteer: Meth seems to be making a comeback.
Bashore: Meth is making a comeback. Alcohol is always going to be around.
Michelle: Right.
Bashore: So this program was opene`d up so that it hits everything, any drug of choice, not just opiates.
Michelle: Right. That just happened to be the big thing going on right at the time.
Bashore: There’ll always be a need.
Michelle: Right.
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Living America’s Opioid Nightmare continues on VOA Connect in the weeks to come))
