By Peter Hillen, Elizabeth Speakman, Nadine Dougall, Inga Heyman, Jennifer Murray, Michelle Jamieson, Elizabeth Aston, Andrew McAuley  

This report describes the findings of an independent evaluation of a Police Scotland test of change (pilot) of the carriage and administration of intranasal naloxone as an emergency first aid measure to persons suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose. The pilot was conducted between March and October 2021 in three test areas in Scotland: Falkirk, Dundee City and Glasgow East, and subsequently extended to include Caithness, Falkirk and Glasgow custody and community police officers in Stirling. Research aims and objectives The evaluation focused on the implementation and processes of the pilot to allow elements of learning and best practice to be identified and to inform any potential future national implementation of naloxone carriage/administration within Police Scotland. The evaluation assessed: • Police officer attitudes towards drug use and people who use drugs; • Police officer experiences of witnessing and responding to overdose; • Police officer understanding and awareness of drug overdose incidents and naloxone as a first aid intervention; • Effectiveness of naloxone training (considering knowledge/skills of officers both before and after training); • Experience of naloxone carriage/administration by officers; • Barriers/facilitators (actual or perceived) impacting on police carriage/administration of naloxone; • Perceptions from local communities, including recovery communities, people who use drugs, their families and/or relevant support services.   

Edinburgh; Napier University ,2022. 98p.

By Expert Panel to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board

In the Spring of 2022, we, the Independent Expert Panel, were engaged by the Thunder Bay Police Services Board (the Board) to provide advice in support of taking immediate actions to address ongoing issues of policing in Thunder Bay. As part of this engagement, we were asked to develop a final report to help guide the Board moving forward. After an initial round of public and private consultations in July of 2022, there was an urgent need to address three areas, including recruitment of leadership and the strengthening of workplace culture within the Thunder Bay Police Service (the Service), which prompted the release of our Interim Report in September 2022, followed by additional in-person and virtual consultations in October 2022. This is our final report, and we offer it with a sense of urgency. We have heard widespread dissatisfaction and a profound lack of trust in the community and within the Service. Hundreds of thoughtful recommendations made over the last few years as part of previous inquests, reviews, and investigations lie unimplemented or inadequately executed. Our extensive consultations with members of the public and the Service brought to our attention the significant consequences of persisting with the status quo. The time for small fixes, tinkering and modest change has long passed; bold transformative action is well overdue. The Board, the Chief of Police and Senior Command of the Service, as well as the City of Thunder Bay must commit themselves to taking immediate action now with a keen and watchful eye and the support of the province and appropriate oversight agencies, in particular, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC). Failure to do so will only strengthen the prevailing sense of despair and intensify calls for external intervention, such as disbandment of the Service. There is an obligation for the Government of Ontario, through these oversight agencies, to ensure that the Board and the Service have the funding and support required to fully implement the necessary changes. The citizens of Thunder Bay cannot bear these costs alone.

Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay Police Services, 2023. 202p.

U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice

The analysis focused on the police role and responsibilities; police organization, management, and operations; the coordination and consolidation of police service; police personnel selection, training, and career development; police-community relations; police ethics; the implementation of policing standards through State commission on police standards; and the community's role in law enforcement. Individual sections detailed the history of the police, police attitudes toward their role, internal and external controls, police leadership, the use of technology, police misconduct, the role of private police, citizen crime precautions, and community crime prevention planning.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1967. 250p.