Access this on-demand webinar by completing the “Watch this Police1 on-demand webinar” box on this page!
Fentanyl is one of the most urgent threats facing correctional facilities today, driving overdose deaths, endangering staff and challenging leaders to find solutions that work. In this webinar, Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shares how Virginia used its FREE (Fentanyl Reduction Enforcement and Education) program to build a corrections-led strategy that helped reduce overdose deaths in state correctional facilities from 24 in 2024 to 0 in 2025.
This webinar examines how Virginia combined leadership, policy, interdiction methods, staff education and technology to reduce fentanyl entry, improve detection and strengthen response inside correctional facilities. You will gain practical insight into how corrections can serve as the front line of a broader fentanyl reduction effort and what strategies agencies can adopt to better protect inmates, staff and their institutions.
By viewing this webinar, you’ll be able to:
- Identify the key elements of Virginia’s corrections-led FREE program that contributed to reducing overdose deaths.
- Explain how leadership, policy, staff training, interdiction practices and technology can work together to reduce fentanyl risk inside correctional facilities.
- Apply practical strategies from Virginia’s approach to strengthen overdose prevention, detection and response efforts within your own correctional systems.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
- Drug task force officers
- Narcotics unit commanders and detectives
- Overdose response / Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers
- Crime reduction / Intelligence analyst
- Training director / Training officer
WHAT ATTENDEES LIKED FROM THIS PRESENTATION:
“Thanks so much, this was very informative!”
“The emphasis on collaborations between agencies was excellent.”
“Great webinar.”
“This was very informative and eye-opening.”
MEET THE SPEAKER:
Marcus Anderson has served decades in public safety and homeland security and most recently served as the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to this appointment, Marcus served as a special agent with the United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for over two decades. While serving with the DEA, Marcus held numerous roles both domestic and foreign, including serving as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Special Operations Division in Mexico, Central America and Canada. In this position Marcus supervised the largest multi-agency unit in the federal government dedicated to defeating the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations impacting the United States. Marcus is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Safety from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Athens State University.