By Jessica A. Reichert, Kaitlin Martins, Bruce Taylor, and Brandon Del Pozo

Police encounter individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) during their routine work and are often called to the scene of overdoses. Despite this frequency, officer knowledge and attitudes about addiction, treatment, and harm reduction vary. Views held by officers, and the extent of their knowledge, can impact the decisions they make regarding people with OUD, yet our understanding of these factors is limited. Using stratified random sampling, we surveyed 248 officers from 27 Illinois police departments on their knowledge of addiction and the means to address it. We performed descriptive and regression analyses to examine differences based on officer characteristics. We found a high proportion of officers lacked knowledge of addiction, treatment, and harm reduction. Our findings suggest the need for police training to improve understanding of addiction. Community collaboration and coordination of resources may give officers the tools to better address OUD, reduce harm, and decrease overdose.

Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority 2023. 22p.

By The Police Executive Research Forum

For decades, enforcing laws against illegal drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession was the primary role of police departments and sheriffs’ offices across the United States. During the Just Say No era of the 1980s and 1990s, arrests for illegal drug possession more than doubled as part of law enforcement’s efforts to deter and diminish drug use. Through time, however, the role of police and sheriffs has evolved and expanded as “demand-reduction policies” have become increasingly prominent. Today, for example, many police agencies administer naloxone, a life-saving medication that quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Police in some cities and towns also work to connect addicted persons with drug treatment and other services. In many jurisdictions, police have reprioritized their enforcement of laws against possession or use of illegal opioids. Police have had to adjust to what remains a major—and evolving—public health crisis. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an average of 128 people in the United States died every day in 2018 after overdosing on opioids. And there are reports that the COVID-19 pandemic may be resulting in higher numbers of overdose deaths.Through time, police responsibilities have grown to encompass at least three different roles on the frontlines of responding to the opioid crisis: 1. Emergency response. Preventing an opioid overdose from becoming a fatal opioid overdose. 2. Public safety. Helping individuals protect themselves from opioid-related harms. 3. Law enforcement. Investigating and disrupting opioid-related criminal activity.   

Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. 2021  88p.