A Qualitative Study of Police Officers’ Knowledge of the Iatrogenic Effects of Opioid Enforcement

• In Event: Police Responses to Vulnerable Populations

Abstract

People who use opioids (PWUO) have asserted police opioid seizures increase risk of overdose in their aftermath. Ecological studies and causal models exhibit a positive association between police opioid seizures and overdose risk. To further characterize this relationship, this qualitative study explores how police officers understand the relationship between their opioid seizures and overdose risk. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with officers from the Providence, Rhode Island Police Department (n = 26) who patrolled areas with concentrated public substance use, or who conducted narcotics investigations. In contrast to patrol officers, narcotics investigators expressed three themes: 1) police opioid seizures increase subsequent overdose risk; 2) the reasons why closely track accounts put forth by researchers and PWUO who experience this risk firsthand; 3) this risk was one of many faced by PWUO, and police narcotics work should weigh it against the need to address the effects of the illicit narcotics trade. These themes indicate investigators viewed increased overdose risk as an iatrogenesis, whereby collateral harms arise from an intervention intended to protect health. This consensus across diverse study populations, supported by ecological research and causal models, suggests the iatrogenic consequences of police opioid enforcement should be taken seriously in formulating drug policy.

Authors

• Brandon del Pozo, Brown University

• Erin Thompson, Brown University Health

• Aline Whiteside, Brown University Health