In response to the devastating spike of overdose deaths in Knox County, the Drug Related Death Task Force is proactively analyzing suspected overdose deaths. Law enforcement is analyzing data in real time to pinpoint significant trends, location hotspots and supply sources in order to stem the opioid epidemic in our community.
Fatal Overdose Victims and the Criminal Justice System Report:
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
The following data sets show the number of suspected drug overdose deaths in Knox County from information provided by the Knox County Forensic Center. In an effort to identify suspected drug overdose deaths as soon as possible, this data is initially obtained before a death is determined an overdose. Once a determination is made by the medical examiner, the data is updated, causing it to fluctuate over time.
Suspected Overdose Death Statistics
Deaths for July 2017
Total Deaths for July 2017: 22
Deaths for August 2017
Total Deaths for August 2017: 37
Deaths for September 2017
Total Deaths for September 2017: 19
Deaths for October 2017
Total Deaths for October 2017: 17
Deaths for November 2017
Total Deaths for November 2017: 22
Deaths for December 2017
Total Deaths for December 2017: 39
Deaths for January 2018
Total Deaths for January 2018: 30
Deaths for February 2018
Total Deaths for February 2018: 27
Deaths for March 2018
Total Deaths for March 2018: 18
Deaths for April 2018
Total Deaths for April 2018: 23
Deaths for May 2018
Total Deaths for May 2018: 33
Deaths for June 2018
Total Deaths for June 2018: 22
Deaths for July 2018
Total Deaths for July 2018: 25
Deaths for August 2018
Total Deaths for August 2018: 22
Deaths for September 2018
Total Deaths for September 2018: 23
Deaths for October 2018
Total Deaths for October 2018: 25
Deaths for November 2018
Total Deaths for November 2018: 23
Deaths for December 2018
Total Deaths for December 2018: 23
Deaths for January 2019
Total Deaths for January 2019: 23
Deaths for February 2019
Total Deaths for February 2019: 14
Deaths for March 2019
Total Deaths for March 2019: 22
Deaths for April 2019
Total Deaths for April 2019: 34
Deaths for May 2019
Total Deaths for May 2019: 18
Deaths for June 2019
Total Deaths for June 2019: 23
Deaths for July 2019
Total Deaths for July 2019: 22
Deaths for August 2019
Total Deaths for August 2019: 14
Deaths for September 2019
Total Deaths for September 2019: 14
Deaths for October 2019
Total Deaths for October 2019: 19
Deaths for November 2019
Total Deaths for November 2019: 33
Deaths for December 2019
Total Deaths for December 2019: 23
Deaths for January 2020
Total Deaths for January 2020: 18
Deaths for February 2020
Total Deaths for February 2020: 16
Deaths for March 2020
Total Deaths for March 2020: 35
Deaths for April 2020
Total Deaths for April 2020: 27
Deaths for May 2020
Total Deaths for May 2020: 40
Deaths for June 2020
Total Deaths for June 2020: 35
Deaths for July 2020
Total Deaths for July 2020: 35
Deaths for August 2020
Total Deaths for August 2020: 35
Deaths for September 2020
Total Deaths for September 2020: 29
Deaths for October 2020
Total Deaths for October 2020: 21
Deaths for November 2020
Total Deaths for November 2020: 0
Deaths for December 2020
Total Deaths for December 2020: 0
The Drug Related Death Task Force is an inter-agency investigation and prosecution team who examines overdoses that occur in Knox County as a means to combat the opiate epidemic. Founded under the direction of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (AHIDTA), the task force consists of the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office, Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and Knox County Regional Forensic Center. The goal of the task force is to decrease overdoses by holding drug dealers accountable when their drug trafficking leads to overdose deaths. The task force also gains intelligence about the opiate epidemic that can be used by member agencies and others across the country to fight this increasing problem.
