U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

 Fact Sheet www.cops.usdoj.gov

2017 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program

The FY 2017 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program 

(AHTF) is designed to advance public safety by providing 

funds to investigate illicit activities related to the distribution of heroin or unlawful distribution of prescriptive opioids, or unlawful heroin and prescription opioid traffickers 

through statewide collaboration. For FY 2017, the COPS 

Office awarded more than $7.1 million in AHTF award 

funds to eight state law enforcement agencies. Each award 

is two years (24 months) in duration with no local match. 

In addition, each award was limited to no more than 

$1.5 million.

Background 

The abuse of opioids, a group of drugs that includes 

heroin and prescription painkillers, has a devastating 

impact on public health and safety in this country. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 143 Americans on average 

died from drug poisoning every day in 2015. Prescription 

drugs were involved in nearly half of the 52,400 drug 

poisoning deaths that year, and opioid pain relievers were 

involved in approximately 24,000 of those deaths. About 

12,900 drug poisoning deaths involved heroin. Drug poisoning deaths outnumbered deaths from gunshot wounds 

or motor vehicle crashes.1

1. CDC Wonder, "About Multiple Cause of Death 1999–2005," Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, accessed December 8, 2016, https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcdicd10.html.

Funding Provisions

In FY 2017, the COPS Office awarded more than $7.1 

million in AHTF award funds to eight (8) state law 

enforcement agencies.

Provisions include the following:

 AHTF competitively provides funds directly to state 

law enforcement agencies with high rates of primary 

treatment admissions for heroin and other opioids. 

 AHTF funding must be used for investigative purposes 

to locate or investigate illicit activities, including activities related to the distribution of heroin or unlawful 

distribution of prescriptive opioids, or unlawful diversion and distribution of prescriptive opioids. 

 AHTF will be open to state law enforcement agencies 

with multijurisdictional reach and an interdisciplinary team (e.g., task force) structures. These state law 

enforcement agencies must have primary law enforcement authority over heroin and other opioids seizures 

and investigations.

 AHTF funding is not intended for treatment programs or prosecution of heroin and other opioidrelated activities. 
2

2016 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program

Contact the COPS Office

For more information about the COPS Anti-Heroin Task 

Force Program, please call the COPS Office Response 

Center at 800-421-6770 or visit the COPS Office online at 

www.cops.usdoj.gov.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

The following resources discuss various efforts to address the problem of heroin 

and other opioids:

Crime Prevention Research Review No.1: 

Disrupting Street-Level Drug Markets

This report summarizes the findings from all rigorous academic studies 

evaluating a range of street-level drug law enforcement interventions. It finds 

that strategic crime control partnerships with a range of third parties are more 

effective at disrupting drug problems than law enforcement-only approaches. 

http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P128

Drug Market Intervention: An Implementation Guide

This guide provides practical information intended to help law enforcement, 

community, and social services partners—the strategy’s key stakeholders—

prepare and successfully execute DMI to close overt drug markets. It discusses 

the ways overt drug markets damage neighborhoods, contribute to disorder, 

and negatively affect communities. This publication guides the reader through 

the processes of partnership formation, police-community reconciliation, 

dealer notifications, staging call-ins, maintaining closure of drug markets, and 

delivering services to dealers.

http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P303

Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes

This problem-oriented guide for police focuses on drug dealing in privately 

owned apartment complexes. It clearly distinguishes between open and closed 

drug markets, provides information on what is known about each market type, 

and offers questions to ask when analyzing each market.

http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P013

The High Point Drug Market Intervention Strategy 

The High Point Drug Market Intervention Strategy tells the compelling story 

of designing and implementing the original intervention in High Point, North 

Carolina, and describes a subsequent successful replication in Providence, Rhode 

Island. This publication is part of an ongoing series by the National Network for 

Safe Communities about its two core crime reduction strategies. 

http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P166

November 2017