Whose Concerns? It's Time to Adjust the Lens of Research on Police-Involved Overdose Response

ABSTRACT

(p. 1326) creatively use body-worn camera footage- a previously unused data source-to support the following findings of previous research (1) police can administer naloxone during an overdose, (2) combativeness toward first responders by overdose survivors is rare, (3) drug exposure is nota risk to police officers, and (4) arrests do occur at the scene of overdose emergencies as the result of police presence.1,2 Although we recognize this article's contribution to the growing literature on law enforcement involvement in overdose response, we would caution policymakers about using the findings of this study to bolster (or worse, solely rely on) the role of police in overdose response. White et al. document that arrest- of both overdose victims and other bystanders-does indeed occur. [...]their conclusion that concerns about police-administered naloxone are "overstated" is dismissive of the most problematic and disruptive concern examined in the study. The disproportionate risk of violence at the hands of police is a powerful deterrent to inviting law enforcement interaction (specifically by calling 911)-one that cannot be resolved by the limited protections provided by most 911 Good Samaritan laws.10 Furthermore, druginduced homicide investigations not only directly undermine the protective mechanisms of 911 Good Samaritan laws5 but are also disproportionately used against non-White persons-and almost exclusively in response to the preventable overdose deaths of White persons.11 Disproportionate policing, police violence, and incarceration of Black and Indigenous persons affect these groups' access to overdose prevention interventions, broadly, and to naloxone, specifically, especially in cases when the nearest available naloxone rests in the hands of police. Black and Indigenous people have the highest fatal overdose rates and are least served by resource allocations that further support police involvement in overdose response. [...]methodologically sound and Black and Indigenous PWUD-informed research indicates otherwise, policymakers and resource allocation decision-makers should consider any life-saving gains via police-involved overdose response to be disproportionately unavailable and inaccessible to Black and Indigenous people.