Submitted by Fox First at Ten on October 16th
KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho - Violent burglaries are trending in Kootenai County. Across the county, there have been more than 80 break-ins, mostly in post falls and Coeur d'Alene.
Many of the alleged burglars police say were fueling drug addictions, like meth and prescription pain meds. It's something substance abuse experts say is on the rise throughout Kootenai County. Roughly 70-patents are seen per week, most of them addicted to methamphetamine and prescription pain pills.
Within the last year, the addiction rehab service at Kootenai Medical Center has doubled it's capacity to serve 16 or more over night patients. Nicole Carlberg, an addiction specialist at Kootenai Medical Center says many of the people she sees are involved with drugs, even recently released from jail after committing other crimes and have fallen on extremely hard times.
Kootenai County parole officers, attorneys and other authorities work closely with at least 16 different addiction treatment organizations to try and get people who are hooked on drugs and have committed crimes the help they need.
KHQ
