When a small child found someone’s “heroin shooting kit”—complete with needles, bleach, and cooking supplies—along Washington Avenue last month, thousands of people took notice on social media.
A Bridgeville police Facebook post about the incident was shared nearly 4,000 times and in the comments section, hundreds of people discussed—or argued about—the impact of heroin on people and communities.
Afterward, one of the kit’s suspected owners visited the police station with an attorney and offered a full confession. Appropriate charges were filed, said Bridgeville police chief Chad King.
This was another example of King’s continually outstanding use of social media, borough councilman William Henderson said earlier this week,.
“People in our community want to know what’s going on,” Henderson said, “and that was a great use of [social media]… I think it allowed some families to talk to their kids about the dangers of what they might find.”
King said the aim of the Facebook page is to educate the public.
“Unfortunately, it’s now becoming the norm to walk down those streets and find paraphernalia scattered about. I’m not proud of that, but that’s the way it is and we have to make people aware of it,” King said.
“My target in posting that was to imagine if that little kid picked up a needle and got stuck with it. He’d have a lifetime of worries ahead of him. So the more people we can make aware of what to look for, the better.”