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Engaging With Law Enforcement: Prevention, Monitoring and Response

Engaging With Law Enforcement: Prevention, Monitoring and Response. Basha Silverman, Brandywine Counseling & Community Services. Background. Law enforcement practices are a well-known risk factor for IDUs Deter uptake of preventative services (e.g. NEP)

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Engaging With Law Enforcement: Prevention, Monitoring and Response

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  1. Engaging With Law Enforcement: Prevention, Monitoring and Response Basha Silverman, Brandywine Counseling & Community Services

  2. Background • Law enforcement practices are a well-known risk factor for IDUs • Deter uptake of preventative services (e.g. NEP) • Deter summoning of emergency response to OD • Force injectors to locations poorly suited for hygienic injection • Increase improperly discarded syringes • Deter uptake of health services

  3. Background • Typically, negative health impacts are unintended • Police are ‘just doing their job’ • Police are often unaware of existing laws • Police see drug use through the lens of criminality, not health, trained to treat drug users as criminals, not people • Police are often unaware of evidence behind HR

  4. Background • Public health professionals typically fail to identify and address the needs of law enforcement in planning and implementation of harm reduction programs • Syringe access is good for everyone in the community, including law enforcement • Efforts to reduce the health consequences of drug use need not conflict with the goals of reducing street crime and enhancing public order • Successful integration with law enforcement is an essential element of successful NEP operation

  5. Law Enforcement/Public Heath • Same Objectives, different approach • Same: Safety, security, and cost-effectiveness • Different: criminalization vs. treatment and harm reduction • Cultural, political and language gap • Mistrust and antagonism • Many HR organizations have no (or negative) relationship with the police • Institutional competition for public resources

  6. Harm Reduction and Police? • Harm Reduction as applied to police: • High level of job-related needle-stick injuries • Very high levels of anxiety over NSI • Danger contributes to dislike of IDUs • Opportunity for HR orgs to reach out to police

  7. Prevention, Monitoring and Response • Forging institutional communication • Providing law enforcement training • Establishment of several negative feedback mechanisms that help check problems before they develop into dangerous

  8. Prevention • Interagency Communication: DE bill set up oversight committee comprised of public health, law enforcement & community • Knowledge of and agreement on law • Formulation of SOP around NEP • Police give needle vouchers to NEP clients! • NEP handles disposal for confiscated sharps

  9. Prevention • Police info card • Info on NEP • Guidelines on avoiding NSI • # to call for info • IDU focus groups • Experiences w/ law enforcement • Client KYR card, training and flyers

  10. Police Info Card

  11. Client KYR Card

  12. Client KYR Card

  13. Prevention – Police Training • Occupational Safety • Basic infectious disease info • NSI Prevention tips • Glove and sharps containers distribution (Site 2) • Law relating to Harm Reduction Efforts • Explanation of regulations on syringes • Value of Harm Reduction efforts to police and community

  14. Monitoring • Incident reports • Integration of questions into Public Defender intake • Lawyer training • Phone hotline • Police Liaison • Intake/Exchange Survey • Arrest • Confiscation • Interaction en route to/from exchange

  15. Response • Bi-weekly meetings between police and NEP • Administrative response to adverse events – open communication between NEP and police • Legal action • Can be lengthy, costly, and victory unclear • Even if you win, difficult to get the police to change their behavior

  16. Next Steps • Build peer/peer training capacity • Dissemination/refinement

  17. Important Principles • Police willing to listen to information that comes from other police: peer-to-peer • Police responsive to information that affects them directly (ie NSI) • Police are generally pragmatic – many think arresting for paraphernalia/simple possession is ‘a waste of time’ • Positive relationships are key: use official connections to establish credibility

  18. Conclusion • Harm Reduction is an effective, evidence based framework • If we continue to act as if we are ‘doing something wrong’ state actors will continue to act as if we are ‘doing something wrong’!

  19. Acknowledgments • Drug Policy Alliance • ACLU Foundation of Delaware • Rhode Island Foundation • Wilmington, DE Police Dept.

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