Charles Grady will speak on the opioid crisis in Connecticut. In his talk entitled “The FBI in Connecticut: an Overview and the Opioid Crisis in Our State,” he will focus on various programs and initiatives of the FBI and speak to the issues facing Connecticut relative to its opioid crisis. Charles, born in New Haven, became a police officer in 1982. He was the first African-American motorcycle officer in the Hamden Police Department and its first African-American detective. In 2002, he retired after a highly decorated career as a detective and federal task officer assigned to the Connecticut State Police Narcotics Unit, DEA and FBI joint task force, as well as being deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service. The primary focus of his career has been in narcotics violations and narcotics-related homicides. Charles also is a professional musician and an accomplished stage, television and film actor, appearing in shows such as “Guiding Light,” “All My Children” and “Law and Order.” After his retirement, he spent seven years as an internal audit investigator for a Fortune 500 company. In 2009, he returned to government service as the first ever internal investigator for the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s office and, in 2012, helped launch the governor’s anti-gun violence program called “Project Longevity” in New Haven and subsequently in Bridgeport. In 2015, he was chosen as the first FBI Community Outreach specialist for Connecticut, in which capacity he educates community members, law enforcement and judicial members on ways to build a safer and more tolerant community.
Arranged by Sunil Saksena
Video “Chasing the Dragon” https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-chasing-the-dragon-the-life-of-an-opiate-addict/view