This section of the toolkit was developed using information gathered through interviews and focus groups with public safety stakeholders, who represent law enforcement, including local police and the sheriff’s department.
Below you will find the promising overdose response strategies identified by public safety stakeholders in Washtenaw County. Each promising strategy is detailed below, along with stakeholder identified barriers to accomplishing the proposed strategies, and how the System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance (SOS) may assist stakeholders’ ability to accomplish each promising strategy.
Promising Strategies
Patrol
Public safety stakeholders believe they have a more reactive role in combating the opioid epidemic and note their main use of data is through heavier and more focused patrol in high-risk areas, similar to how they treat high incidence of crime. For example, one law enforcement stakeholder states “The whole point of using maps like that is so we can identify problem areas or target areas and so, our whole goal would be to try to push you know, some patrol resources to that area,” demonstrating how the overdose reports would be used to guide patrol measures.
“I think it would work the same way as we do with our current crime trends. So, if we’re seeing a spike in break-ins of cars or things like that, we’re gonna focus our you know, enforcement and maybe put more officers in that particular area.”
Public Safety Stakeholder
Barriers
A common barrier that prevents public safety officials from being able to easily enhance their opioid overdose response efforts is mistrust of law enforcement within the community. In the event of an overdose or when dealing with any matter related to substances and substance use, individuals and organizations are often reluctant to involve public safety out of fear of arrest or other punitive consequences. While there are existing legislation efforts such as the Good Samaritan law, which aims to help with this barrier, public safety officials themselves have begun to work to breakdown this barrier as well.
“It’s almost like it has to be that situation that comes up where you are put in that position where you technically I guess could make an arrest, but that won’t solve the underlying core root of a problem and you say, okay, let’s do it this other way and then the word gets out that ‘oh, you know, we… they aren’t bad people, they really are trying to help us, you see?’”
Public Safety Stakeholder
In Washtenaw County, all public safety officials have been trained to use naloxone. Making this a widespread practice among neighboring counties would help highlight public safety’s commitment to decreasing the number of fatalities from opioid overdose. One of our stakeholders stated that continued changed behavior is the only way for the community to gain trust in public safety.
In Michigan, there are many public safety efforts that aim to bring law enforcement and community organizations together to help combat the opioid epidemic through offering help rather than punishment. One example is Hope not Handcuffs, a program created by Families Against Narcotics (FAN), that brings together public safety and community organizations in an effort to find viable treatment options for interested individuals.14 Currently, there are 76 public safety agencies participating in this effort. With continued efforts to alter the approach by law enforcement, public safety can work to both save lives and become a trusted source for help when struggling with a substance use disorder.
Near Real-Time Data Impact
Near real-time suspected opioid overdose data provides local law enforcement agencies with the ability to see areas with high concentrations of suspected overdoses. Through the use of near-realtime opioid overdose location data, law enforcement officials have the ability to see trends throughout their respective communities. They can track how areas where overdoses have been concentrated, change or remain consistent over time.