DOJ drug intelligence officer wins national award for work to combat drug crisis

HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation’s drug intelligence officer received a national award for his efforts to work with public health and public safety agencies across the state to save lives and improve overdose responses in Montana communities, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today.

Will Janisch received the award for Outstanding Public Health/Public Safety Collaboration for his work to combat the drug crisis in Montana from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Janisch received the award along with Jordan Friend of the CDC Foundation. The two make up Montana’s Overdose Response Team.

As fentanyl and other illicit drugs wreak havoc on families across the state, they work with public health and public safety agencies across the state to save lives and improve overdose responses in Montana communities by utilizing the state’s Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP).

“I’m proud of the work Will has done on the Overdose Response Team to save lives in Montana,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “Fentanyl is the number one public safety threat to Montanans and it’s destroying our communities. When we know there’s a spike in fentanyl-related deaths we need to get that information out to the community as soon as possible and they’re helping us do that.”

“This award is well deserved. Will has been instrumental in helping communities across the state combat the drug and fentanyl epidemic,” DCI administrator Bryan Lockerby said. “Their work to utilize and expand the ODMAP in Montana is impressive.”

The ODMAP provides suspected overdose data across jurisdictions that helps officials track and analyze overdoses to support efforts to respond immediately to increases or spikes in overdose events. In 2022, Janisch and Friend brought together more than 100 different public health and public safety agencies across the state to coordinate overdose responses and implement intelligence gathering using the ODMAP, increasing the use of ODMAP in Montana by more than 328 percent.

The team also enhanced coordination and communication when issuing overdose alerts between local, state, tribal, and federal agencies and continues to work with tribal entities to set up ODMAP accounts. Additionally, Janisch and Friend developed a community overdose spike response toolkit for communities across the state to use in their overdose response plans to prevent more drug overdose deaths.

Montana’s ORT was nominated for the award by the Rocky Mountain HIDTA. Janisch was recognized and presented the award during a HIDTA meeting on June 13.

The Overdose Response Team began their work in late 2021 to assist communities in addressing the rising number of drug overdoses. According to preliminary data from the State Crime Lab, during the first half of 2023, there were 48 overdose deaths involving fentanyl.  Last year, the State Crime Lab reported 77 overdose deaths involving fentanyl – an increase of 1,750 percent from 2017 when there were just four. Attorney General Knudsen also reported in August that fentanyl seizures during the first half of 2023 have already shattered 2022’s record.