OCALA, Fla. — The Ocala Police Department now has a new leader.

Michael Balken has been permanent chief for about a month, following the death of Chief Greg Graham in a plane crash in October.

What You Need To Know

  • Michael Balken is new Ocala permanent police chief

  • Plans to continue Chief Graham's opioid amnesty program

  • Opioid overdose cases have more than doubled this year

  • 352 addicts have volunteered to participate in the amnesty program

For Balken, family is everything.

"I married my middle school sweetheart, I met her when I was 12 years old," he said.

Memories with his wife and two kids are frozen in time on the shelves of his office, alongside memories of former Chief Greg Graham.

On October 25, 2020, Graham died in a plane crash near the Marion County Airport.

"The chief was a great leader. He did tremendous things for the agency. He was a great law-man in general," Balken said.

The two met in the 90s when Balken was a patrol officer and Graham a sergeant at the Ocala Police Department.

"It wasn't all about catching the bad guy, driving fast and shooting guns, it was really a way to serve," Balken said.

The Ocala native wants to continue the late chief's work, including Graham's opioid amnesty program.

In 2019, Ocala Police responded to 151 overdose cases. In 2020, that number more than doubled to 343 cases.

This year, Ocala officers have saved 142 opioid users with Narcan. They have also obtained homicide indictments on three drug dealers.

Chief Balken said 352 addicts have volunteered to participate in the opioid amnesty program since it started in January 2018. The program allows people to ask an officer for help and they're taken to a treatment center without questions asked. He also said they're permitted to surrender any narcotics/drug paraphernalia without fear of arrest.

The department is working to expand the program to further target local drug dealers.

"Better partnering with the judicial system to make sure that the people we are able to save, once they're in the system, we can get them the long-term wrap around care that they really need to get off of this stuff," Balken said.

He also wants to better use crime software Chief Graham brought in to the department a few years ago that works to forecast crimes before they happen.

"One of my main goals moving forward is now solving crime, but preventing it to begin with," Chief Balken said.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said Graham's plane crash is still under investigation by the NTSB and DAA.