Law enforcement officers (LEOs) may interact with patients and clinicians in the emergency department (ED) when seeking medical care for individuals under arrest, investigating crimes, and providing security. These objectives may not align with clinician and patient priorities. 1 Patients and clinicians have reported that LEO presence in the ED can disrupt clinical care, interfere with privacy, compound stress and trauma, and decrease patient trust in clinicians. 2,3 Furthermore, unequal exposure to law enforcement may exacerbate racial bias and disparities in health care. 3 Little is known about the fre-quency, circumstances, and context of LEO presence in US EDs. In this qualitative study, we quantifed LEO interactions with patients and clinicians in an urban ED.
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