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Southern Indiana Police Chief Needs Help Dealing With Pervaisve Drug Problem

Last updated on Monday, September 14, 2015

(AUSTIN) - A police chief in a southern Indiana town that has been the center of the worst HIV outbreak in state history says his department needs help.

With state support, several new services are now available in town for those affected by the HIV outbreak that the State Department of Health said recently had reached 181 cases. But Austin Police Chief Donald Spicer said his department hasn't received help to deal with the pervasive drug problem.

Health officials say the HIV outbreak has been largely driven by needle-sharing among people injecting a liquefied form of the painkiller Opana.

Spicer tells WDRB-TV his department is outnumbered. For example, Austin has six officers with about 4,300 residents while nearby Scottsburg with about 6,750 residents has 13 officers.

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