Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro will visit the region Tuesday, making stops in East Smethport, Coudersport and Emporium.
“Having a state official experience our rural county is important so he has context of what people across the entire state –– rather than only the larger cities –– need,” McKean County District Attorney Stephanie L. Vettenburg-Shaffer told The Era on Thursday.
Shapiro, who has been the commonwealth’s top lawyer and chief law enforcement officer for less than a year, will host a Coffee with Cops event starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Raught’s Country Kitchen at 7076 Route 46 outside of Smethport.
At 10:30 a.m., he will preside over an opioids roundtable with local officials at the Gunzburger Building at 1 N. Main St. in Coudersport.
Shapiro will round out his visit to the region in Emporium with another Coffee with Cops event, starting at 11:45 a.m. at the Cabin Kitchen Restaurant at 24 W. Fourth St.
Vettenburg-Shaffer said she is interested in the basic working components of the initiatives set forth by Gov. Tom Wolf.
“Do our local medical providers and treatment providers have everything they need to implement the goals?” she said. “Are there resources available from the state to combat illegal drug dealing to help in prosecutions for cases where a death occurred?”
And, of course, she said she wants to learn more about this week’s Wolf’s emergency proclamation dealing with the opioid and heroin epidemic.
“With the duration of an emergency proclamation, I am interested to see how the plan was instituted so that the entire period of the emergency can be used for action rather than a portion spent with planning and coordination and only a portion of time available for actual implementation,” Vettenburg-Shaffer said.
If she gets a chance to talk at the meeting, Vettenburg-Shaffer said she wants to express appreciation for Shapiro’s office’s assistance and support for the McKean County Drug Task Force and inform him of the good experiences with agents from his office during investigations.
“While he does represent the entire state and I’m sure he is pulled in every direction, I appreciate that McKean County was selected as a stop for him and was pleasantly surprised when I received a call from his office last week,” she said. “Ultimately the purpose of his visit is to talk about the epidemic and what the state is doing about it regardless of the fanfare a visit from a state official brings.”
This won’t be her first encounter with the attorney general’s office. She said she had met with with members of the attorney general’s office and worked with them on various cases.
“In fact, I have found their assistance extremely valuable,” Vettenburg-Shaffer said. “I can say I certainly appreciate the fact that they have reached out to me in the past to talk about resources they have and offered assistance.”
Though he just found out about Shapiro’s visit on Thursday, Bradford Township Police Chief Robb Shipman said he would guess the attorney general would talk about the heroin, fentanyl and opioid epidemic.
“I’m interested to hear what (Shapiro) has to say,” he said.
