SALISBURY — The Salisbury Police Department has partnered with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center to identify solutions that will address violent crimes, opioid overdoses, low clearance rates for homicides and community engagement.

At a news conference at 2 p.m. today at the police station, Police Chief Jerry Stokes will discuss the process by which the Office of Justice Programs will conduct research to help the department enhance the response to those issues that have plagued the city.

Police Capt. Shelia Lingle said the chief and others will also discuss some initiatives the Police Department is implementing.

The department, like many other law enforcement agencies, has been dealing with a rise in opioid overdoses, answering hundreds of calls in a matter of a few months about someone who has overdosed and had to be revived. In some of those incidents, the people who overdosed died.

This year, there have been seven homicides in the city, all of which have been solved. But other murders from previous years remain unsolved.

The news conference will be held at 130 E. Liberty St.