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Background <p>To inform the feasibility and acceptability of evidence-informed police practices related to substance use, addiction, and overdose, we sought to better understand how US police chiefs perceive substance use and related policing practices.</p> Methods <p>A national sample of randomly selected US police chiefs (<i>N</i> = 276) completed a 37-item survey about substance use and policing. Nine items assessed chiefs’ perceptions of: officers’ discretion in making arrests, effectiveness of overdose responses, risks of fentanyl exposure, de-escalation practices, harmful drugs in their community, and illicitly-obtained buprenorphine. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and exploratory ordinal logistic regressions.</p> Results <p>Most chiefs (72.5%) agreed that arrest for any nonviolent misdemeanor was at the discretion of their officers, and they overwhelmingly (94.9%) trusted their officers to make the right arrest decision. The majority of chiefs (87.7%) felt their officers could effectively respond to an opioid overdose, and 83.7% reported their officers carried naloxone on patrol. Chiefs in the Northeast were significantly less likely to be confident in their officers’ ability to respond to a methamphetamine overdose than chiefs in the West. Most (90.0%) were receptive to implementing methamphetamine de-escalation strategies (i.e., techniques to resolve crises short of force). Almost all chiefs (91.2%) agreed with the inaccurate statement that fentanyl exposure at a drug overdose scene could harm officers.</p> Conclusions <p>Police chiefs express interest in several types of evidence-based public health approaches to policing. Critically, there is a need to curtail fentanyl misinformation and to improve officer knowledge about medications for treating opioid use disorder.</p>

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Beliefs of US chiefs of police about substance use disorder, fentanyl exposure, overdose response, and use of discretion: results from a national survey

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月5日

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  • Amelia Bailey,
  • Barbara Andraka-Christou,
  • Saba Rouhani,
  • M.H. Clark,
  • Danielle Atkins,
  • Brandon del Pozo

摘要

Background

To inform the feasibility and acceptability of evidence-informed police practices related to substance use, addiction, and overdose, we sought to better understand how US police chiefs perceive substance use and related policing practices.

Methods

A national sample of randomly selected US police chiefs (N = 276) completed a 37-item survey about substance use and policing. Nine items assessed chiefs’ perceptions of: officers’ discretion in making arrests, effectiveness of overdose responses, risks of fentanyl exposure, de-escalation practices, harmful drugs in their community, and illicitly-obtained buprenorphine. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and exploratory ordinal logistic regressions.

Results

Most chiefs (72.5%) agreed that arrest for any nonviolent misdemeanor was at the discretion of their officers, and they overwhelmingly (94.9%) trusted their officers to make the right arrest decision. The majority of chiefs (87.7%) felt their officers could effectively respond to an opioid overdose, and 83.7% reported their officers carried naloxone on patrol. Chiefs in the Northeast were significantly less likely to be confident in their officers’ ability to respond to a methamphetamine overdose than chiefs in the West. Most (90.0%) were receptive to implementing methamphetamine de-escalation strategies (i.e., techniques to resolve crises short of force). Almost all chiefs (91.2%) agreed with the inaccurate statement that fentanyl exposure at a drug overdose scene could harm officers.

Conclusions

Police chiefs express interest in several types of evidence-based public health approaches to policing. Critically, there is a need to curtail fentanyl misinformation and to improve officer knowledge about medications for treating opioid use disorder.