Abstract
Police frequently encounter people with opioid use disorder (OUD), having a profound effect on their risk environment and health outcomes. Officers retain significant discretionary authority in their response to these encounters. To explore the factors that underlie these decisions, we surveyed a sample of Illinois police officers. We administered an online survey to Illinois police departments using a random sampling strategy, stratified by agency size and the rurality of their service areas. Our final sample was 248 police officers from 27 departments. We surveyed officers’ beliefs about (1) influences and control over their decision making; (2) the approval of other actors in making referrals to treatment for addiction, and (3) the potential impacts of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). We analyzed the survey data using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Most officers were highly influenced by the expectations of their supervisors when responding to subjects who appeared to have an OUD, and about half would take direction from addiction treatment providers. Police in urban departments perceived greater support for MAT and were more likely to believe MAT could reduce the need for future arrests. Our findings suggest ways police officers can be influenced to make discretionary decisions that improve the health outcomes of their encounters with people with OUD: (1) Supervisors should serve as champions to promote referrals to treatment for substance use disorders; (2) collaboration between law enforcement and community addiction treatment providers should be strengthened, and (3) MAT should be supported and expanded in rural areas.
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Notes
Although the authors prefer the term “medications for opioid use disorder” (MOUD), which centers medication as the principal aspect of treatment for OUD, the term “medication-assisted treatment” MAT is used throughout the study to comport with terminology the research subjects were most likely to be familiar with.
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Dr. del Pozo was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grants T32DA013911, and K01DA056654). The institute played no role in the preparation of this manuscript, and the opinions expressed are the authors’ alone. Ms. Reichert was supported by Grant #2018-DJ-BX-0761 awarded to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
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del Pozo, B., Reichert, J., Martins, K. et al. Police Use of Discretion in Encounters with People with Opioid Use Disorder: a Study of Illinois Police Officers. J Police Crim Psych 39, 141–156 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-023-09628-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-023-09628-9