Harm Reduction Policing: An Evaluation of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in San Francisco

Perrone, Dina; Malm, Aili; Magaña, Erica Jovanna

doi:10.1177/10986111211037585

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This multi-pronged approach to overdose intervention in New Castle County matters. Our community-level study conforms with individual-level evaluations highlighting the social benefits of law enforcement-based overdose responses, which include saving lives (Fisher et al, 2016;Rando et al, 2015) and connecting people to detox, treatment, and supportive services (Clifasefi et al, 2017;Perrone et al, 2022;White et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Growing incidents of nonfatal (Vivolo-Kantor et al, 2020) and fatal (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021;Hedegaard et al, 2018) drug poisonings have compelled public health and criminal justice officials to identify new overdose reduction measures. Police departments have embraced naloxone training and administration as a way to medically respond to overdoses that occur while officers are on-duty (Davis et al, 2015;Rando et al, 2015), but law enforcement agencies are increasingly developing their own policy interventions to prevent overdoses in the first place, improve community relations, and link people to supportive services like treatment, housing, mental health care, employment assistance (Formica et al, 2018;Goodison et al, 2019;Perrone et al, 2022;White et al, 2021). The Hero Help program represents one example of a law enforcement-based treatment referral program.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two leading strategies involve deflection by officer initiation or intervention and treatment-referral programming (Center for Health and Justice at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, 2021). The former type includes Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs that give police officers discretion to divert people suspected of low-level drug violations or substance use-related offenses (e.g., prostitution) away from formal criminal processing and toward recovery and supportive services with the guidance of a case manager (Goodison et al, 2019;Perrone et al, 2022). Over 50 counties and localities have ongoing LEAD programs (LEAD National Support Bureau, 2022).…”

Section: Law Enforcement Responses To Overdosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Law Enforcement-Based Outreach and Treatment Referral as a Response to Opioid Misuse: Assessing Reductions in Overdoses and Costs

et al. 2022

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To reduce opioid-involved overdoses, law enforcement agencies have taken proactive steps to connect people to treatment and supportive services. This study evaluates the impact of a law enforcement-based outreach and treatment referral program known as Hero Help on the incidence and costs of overdoses occurring in the jurisdiction of Delaware’s New Castle County Division of Police (NCCPD). It first compares observed and predicted fatal and nonfatal overdoses between 2013 and 2021. A time series analysis shows an average decrease of 7.25 nonfatal and 1.85 fatal overdoses per month since the program’s two expansions of its civilian care team. It then adapts Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health care cost data to estimate the cost reductions of fewer overdoses. These metrics suggest Hero Help saved the community $21.5 million per month. Police departments can then reduce the incidence and economic burden of overdoses through outreach and referrals to treatment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Law Enforcement Responses To Overdosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Law Enforcement-Based Outreach and Treatment Referral as a Response to Opioid Misuse: Assessing Reductions in Overdoses and Costs

et al. 2022

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“…Community overdose education and nasal naloxone distribution programs have been shown to reduce overdose (Walley et al, 2013 ) and police working in deflection programs can and should incorporate the use of naloxone to save lives (Fisher et al, 2016 ; Lowder et al, 2020 ). Further, police deflection programs using a harm reduction approach, helping those who may be actively using drugs, have been found to be effective at reducing arrests, increasing employment, and improving housing (Clifasefi et al, 2017 ; Collins et al, 2015 ; Diriba & Whitlock, 2022 ; Firesheets et al, 2022 ; International Association of Chiefs of Police & University of Cincinnati, 2020 ; Morrissey et al, 2019 ; Perrone, et al, 2022 )..…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guiding officers to deflect citizens to treatment: an examination of police department policies in Illinois

Reichert¹,

Adams²,

Taylor

et al. 2023

Health Justice

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Background The U.S. overdose crisis has motivated police departments to enact policies allowing officers to directly deflect individuals to substance use disorder treatment and other services shown to reduce recidivism and subsequent overdose risk, as well as refer people who voluntarily present at police facilities with a desire for treatment. As a new way of operating, and one that relies on an officer’s use of discretion for successful implementation, the practice benefits from guidance through written directives, training, and supervisory support. However, there is little information on the establishment, content, and execution of police department deflection policies, which hampers the implementation and dissemination of this promising practice. We analyzed 16 policies of Illinois police department deflection programs. Using content analysis methodology, we coded the policies for language and terminology, as well as program components and procedures. We aimed to examine how the policies were written, as well as the content intending to guide officers in their work. Results We found the policies and programs had notable differences in length, detail, terminology, and reading level. Only one policy mentioned the use of any type of addiction treatment medication, many used stigmatizing language (e.g., “abuse” and “addict”), and few mentioned “harm reduction” or training in the practice of deflection. Many policies restricted participation in deflection (i.e., no minors, outstanding warrants, current withdrawal symptoms), and critically, a majority of policies allowed police officers to exclude people from participation based on their own judgment. Conclusions We recommend police departments consider the readability of their policies and reduce barriers to deflection program participation to engage a larger pool of citizens in need of substance use disorder treatment. Since there is limited research on police policies generally, and the field of deflection is relatively new, this study offers insight into the content of different department policies and more specifically, how officers are directed to operate deflection programs.

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“…Pre-booking diversion programs are less common and require police officers to divert PWUD into treatment without an arrest (Cowell et al, 2004; Lindquist-Grantz et al, 2021). These programs are more likely to be labeled harm reduction policies and are sometimes called harm reduction policing (Perrone et al, 2022). Within post-booking programs, police officers can arrest PWUD and the court diverts qualifying individuals into treatment through pretrial programs (Cowell et al, 2004).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons From the Frontlines of the Overdose Crisis: Exploring the Impact of Harm Reduction Policies on the Roles and Responsibilities of First Responders

Witkowski

2023

Public Personnel Management

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First responders, including police officers and firefighters, take on the occupational role of responding to community needs during emergencies. While it is acknowledged that their emergency role may change and adapt during large-scale crisis events, this is assumed to be a temporary change that will eventually result in a return to traditional occupational responsibilities. This may be different for public health emergencies, like the overdose crisis, that require a long-term and dynamic response. Moreover, recent policy shifts toward harm reduction policies over prosecution-focused policies may inadvertently change the traditional roles of first responders. Using 30 qualitative interviews with police officers and firefighters in Florida, this study examines how harm reduction policies can influence the occupational roles and responsibilities of first responders and reveals how agencies can mitigate the potential burdens associated with implementing these policy responses. This study found that first responder roles were generally expanding to meet growing community needs which included responding to overdoses. The overdose crisis placed additional burdens on first responders (especially police officers) but shared responsibilities between first response agencies and organizational service expansion could mitigate this burden.

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Harm Reduction Policing: An Evaluation of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in San Francisco

Cited by 15 publications

References 30 publications

Law Enforcement-Based Outreach and Treatment Referral as a Response to Opioid Misuse: Assessing Reductions in Overdoses and Costs

Law Enforcement-Based Outreach and Treatment Referral as a Response to Opioid Misuse: Assessing Reductions in Overdoses and Costs

Guiding officers to deflect citizens to treatment: an examination of police department policies in Illinois

Lessons From the Frontlines of the Overdose Crisis: Exploring the Impact of Harm Reduction Policies on the Roles and Responsibilities of First Responders

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