Law Enforcement Participation Reduces Effectiveness of Programs
Police participation creates challenges for connecting with people who use drugs and overdose survivors, which undermines public health goals of evidence-based programs.* Prioritize funding programs led by other stakeholders.
What You Need To Know
Research shows that Police participation, especially during outreach visits, presented numerous challenges for engaging overdose survivors and establishing linkages with evidence-based services. - Source
Prevention strategies that factor in the personal relationship people who use drugs often have with their distributor may help prevent overdose.
Additionally, programs that treat people who use drugs differently than drug distributors are often ineffective. The latest research shows that 87.5% of people who reported selling drugs also used drugs.
Additionally, 43.1% met the criteria for a substance use disorder. People need support, not punishment. Source: American Psychological Association
A Better Option
Create 24/7 Mobile Response : Civilian mobile crisis team services offer community based intervention to individuals in need wherever they are. These teams are housed outside of law enforcement and include a licensed and/or credentialed clinician capable of assessing the needs of individuals. The most effective community response teams incorporate peers within the mobile crisis team, respond without law enforcement accompaniment, are able to replace lost medications, and schedule outpatient follow-up appointments in a manner consistent with a warm hand-off in order to support connection to ongoing care. Source
Mental Health SF : Increases access to mental health and substance use services.
