Prevalence, characteristics, and predictors of police training initiatives by US SEPs: Building an evidence base for structural interventions

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence 2011-12, Vol.119 (1), p.145-149
• Main Authors: Beletsky, L, Grau, L.E, White, E, Bowman, S, Heimer, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Community based preventive programmes; Drug addiction; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV prevention; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Injection drug use; Injections; Intravenous drug addicts; Law Enforcement - methods; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Needle Sharing - legislation & jurisprudence; Needle Sharing - psychology; Needle-Exchange Programs - legislation & jurisprudence; Needle-Exchange Programs - statistics & numerical data; Police; Police - education; Police - legislation & jurisprudence; Police training; Policing; Prevalence; Professional training; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Structural interventions; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - epidemiology; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology; Syringes; United States; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.05.034

Abstract Background Community-based prevention initiatives such as syringe exchange programs (SEPs) are proven to curb injection-related HIV transmission. Policing targeting injection drug users (IDUs) can interfere with SEP functioning. Efforts to maximize the public health benefit of SEPs have included police trainings designed to reduce such interference. Methods We surveyed US SEP managers to assess prevalence, content, and correlates of SEP police trainings. Multivariate analyses were utilized to identify predictors of training participation. Results Of 107 SEPs (57% of all US programs), 20% reported participating in trainings during the previous year. Covered topics included the public health rationale behind SEPs (71%), police occupational health (67%), needle stick injury (62%), SEPs’ legal status (57%), and harm reduction philosophy (67%). On average, trainings were seen as moderately effective, but only four programs reported conducting any formal evaluation. In multivariate modeling, training participation was independently associated with state law authorizing syringe possession by clients (aOR = 3.71, 95%CI = 1.04–13.23), higher frequency of client arrest (aOR = 2.07, 95%CI = 1.0–4.7), and systematic monitoring of adverse client-police encounters (aOR = 4.02, 95%CI = 1.14–14.17). Assistance with police trainings was identified by 72% of respondents as the key to improving police relations. Conclusion At a time when collaboration with police may become requisite for SEPs to receive federal funding, most program managers in the US perceive police trainings as a key to improved SEP-police relations. Robust evaluation is needed to better understand the impact of these trainings on law enforcement practices, SEP operations, and community health. Such research will inform technical assistance, policy design, and resource allocation.