This webinar will provide an overview of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) prevention and community outreach efforts, with a special focus on Operation Engage, a new, comprehensive law enforcement and prevention support initiative aimed at reducing drug use, misuse, and overdose deaths.  Launched in late February 2021, the initiative builds on and replaces DEA’s Operation 360 Strategy, which aimed its resources specifically at opioids.  Operation Engage allows DEA field divisions to customize plans and redirect resources to target the drug that presents the greatest threat to public health and public safety in their jurisdictions.

The goals of Operation Engage are to identify and affect local drug threat enforcement priorities and drug use trends, support and contribute to local drug use prevention efforts, and bridge public safety and public health efforts.  Each DEA division will designate a city or region, identify its most challenging drug trend, and focus evidence-based drug use prevention and community outreach efforts to make a true and measurable difference in the community.

During this webinar, participants will learn about DEA’s prevention and community outreach efforts, including Operation Engage, Operation Prevention, and Campus Drug Prevention, by hearing firsthand from DEA senior prevention program managers and community outreach specialists from sites currently participating in the initiative.

Presenters

• Jamila Robinson, Senior Prevention Program Manager, Community Outreach Division, DEA 
• Rich Lucey, Senior Prevention Program Manager, Community Outreach Division, DEA
• Catie Drew, Senior Prevention Program Manager, Community Outreach Division, DEA
• Robert Niczyporowicz, Community Outreach Specialist, Philadelphia Field Division, DEA
• Uluao Aumavae, Community Outreach Specialist, Seattle Field Division, DEA

To view a PDF version of the slide deck that was used during this presentation, click here.