The Saratoga Springs Police Department is bolstering its resources by partnering with the FBI.

The city held a news conference on Thursday to tout its partnership with the federal agency to tackle a number of cases. One particular problem is an increasing number of fentanyl overdoses.

Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll said the city’s Woodlawn Avenue parking garage has been a drug hotspot.  

Coll mentioned that a March arrest raised a red flag for authorities. A person was arrested on weapons and drug charges, which included fentanyl trafficking.              

Coll said police had two potential fentanyl overdoses in 2022 and eight potential ODs in 2023. So far this year, there have also been eight ODs and an additional two deadly overdoses.

Coll said finalizing their partnership with the FBI is sort of a formality. That means they can use the same resources and intelligence as the FBI and have access to everything the federal agency has.

The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is helping them with curbing overdoses and getting drugs off the streets.

“The idea was developing back in the spring when we had that arrest,” he said. “We knew overdoses were increasing, but a few weeks ago we did have a fatal overdose in the Woodlawn parking garage – a known place for us for drug activity. If you want to focus on a specific event that one was certainly important to us.”