Congressman Josh Harder shows how to do damage control the right way
Law enforcement officers need protection from black market fentanyl, sure. Like everyone else, and maybe more because cops’ jobs are likely to expose them to the potent and sometimes deadly drug.
So I don’t have a problem with federal legislation calling for training, resources and equipment aimed at keeping officers safe from fentanyl and other harmful substances. And our congressman, Rep. Josh Harder, has every right to sign on to the bill, called the Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act of 2021.
But a line must be drawn when politicians rely on a misleading story to build whatever case they’re making, as Harder did.
His office on Wednesday issued a four-paragraph press release about Harder backing the effort. Part reads:
This summer a California sheriff’s deputy, David Faiivae, nearly died of a fentanyl overdose after he was exposed while on duty. The deputy found a white substance while on patrol and immediately went into an overdose. His Field Training Officer, Corporal Scott Crane, saved his life by quickly administering him Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug.
Harder’s release points people to an Aug. 6 Sacramento Bee article on the incident, which was featured in a moving video produced by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. They packaged body-camera footage with dramatic music, video of the recovered deputy wiping away a tear and the San Diego sheriff sternly warning all officers everywhere to be on their guard for exposure overdoses.
What Harder apparently missed was The Sacramento Bee’s follow-up story five days later debunking the sheriff’s narrative. And The Washington Post’s similar fact-check story, and The New York Times’, and USA Today’s, and the San Diego Tribune’s, and numerous others.
All thoroughly discredited the idea that anyone could get a whiff of fentanyl upon opening a package — or just touching it — keel over and stop breathing, as Faiivae did, requiring that his partner administer Naloxone (commonly known by the brand name Narcan), a nasal spray that helps reverse overdoses.
Fentanyl is a ruthless killer
Let’s be clear: Illicit fentanyl is a dangerous, undiscriminating killer.
My column in November about the ravages of fentanyl here in Stanislaus County was read more online than any other opinion column or editorial I’ve written in the past year. People are becoming all too aware that this potent drug is scourging families in Modesto and across America. Less than two weeks after my column, District Attorney Birgit Fladager brought a murder charge against the guy who allegedly sold a deadly pill to a young man I wrote about who ended up dead.
So Harder, a Turlock Democrat with an otherwise solid record and reputation, is not wrong to back this legislation.
But anyone on his staff who bothered to Google Faiivae’s name would easily have seen numerous reports discrediting the San Diego story as the urban legend it is.
At a time like this, when rampant misinformation is hurting all of us, we should be able to depend on elected officials — including Harder — to stick to the truth.
To his credit, soon after the above portion of this column posted online Wednesday afternoon, Harder’s staff issued another with the same information about the legislation but minus the anecdote about the San Diego deputy. “Our office learned that the link between the incident and a synthetic opioid has been widely questioned by medical experts,” the new version reads. “We regret our mistake.”
Voters often forgive and forget
Harder gets points for honesty, for correcting the mistake and for apologizing rather than ignoring it and hoping it just blows over.
Others — politicians, public servants and the rest of us — struggle to find the humility to acknowledge error. It’s just not easy to admit you were wrong.
My guess: As Harder prepares for a campaign to represent a new district that is radically different from his home base, few will remember this stumble.
He will run for the Stockton-based Ninth Congressional District recently created in the once-a-decade redistricting process, leaving behind Modesto, Turlock and the rest of Stanislaus County except for its sparsely populated northeast tip above Oakdale. Harder has lots more on his mind these days, including getting familiar with San Joaquin County, and more important, getting people there to know him.
Voters have proven a willingness to forgive and forget — especially when the sin was just a careless mistake.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 1:26 PM.
