The Suffolk Police Department and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office are to be commended for their recent work chasing down and prosecuting heroin users and dealers.

After noticing an uptick in heroin overdoses last year, law enforcement officers in Suffolk set out to fix the problem. They’ve made numerous arrests through several extensive investigations, and have turned over 11 cases to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

The use of heroin doesn’t just affect the user. It increases crime and community health problems, as well as the cost to operate the police department, the jail and the courthouse. To most taxpayers, the drug world operates below the radar, but it truly is everyone’s problem.

The extent of the heroin problem in Suffolk made headlines in January, when police arrested three suspects and charged them with distributing heroin. That investigation turned up about $2,000 worth of heroin — about 200 capsules — police said at the time.

Fortunately, the increase in the number of cases involving heroin probably doesn’t mean there’s been an increase in the amount on the streets, according to experts — it only means that the police department’s efforts to bring the offenders to justice have been successful.

We urge the investigation, arrests and prosecution of heroin offenders to continue, and would hope that, if found guilty, the offenders wind up in front of a judge who’s willing to throw the book at them. Suffolk doesn’t need these kind of people on the streets any longer.