Academic Journal
Business and Service Provider Attitudes Towards Police Involvement in Overdose Response: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Rhode Island Overdose Hotspots.
| Τίτλος: | Business and Service Provider Attitudes Towards Police Involvement in Overdose Response: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Rhode Island Overdose Hotspots. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Rouhani S; New York University School of Global Public Health, 708 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003, USA. Saba.Rouhani@nyu.edu., Rosen JG; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.; Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA., Pozo BD; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.; Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA., Figgatt M; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.; The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA., Aslam R; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA., Rich JD; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.; Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.; The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA., Park JN; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.; Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA. |
| Πηγή: | Journal of community health [J Community Health] 2026 Aug; Vol. 51 (4), pp. 535-541. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 29. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7600747 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-3610 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00945145 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Community Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Amsterdam : Springer Original Publication: New York, Human Sciences Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Drug Overdose*/prevention & control , Police* , Law Enforcement*, Humans ; Rhode Island ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Middle Aged |
| Περίληψη: | Police presence at overdose scenes can deter life-saving help-seeking behaviors due to fear of legal consequences, leading some jurisdictions to consider police non-attendance policies. However, business stakeholders' attitudes toward the role of law enforcement in overdose response remain understudied. We surveyed 100 business employees and service providers in areas of high overdose concentration in Rhode Island from November 2022 to April 2024. Participants completed structured questionnaires assessing attitudes toward police effectiveness in overdose prevention, service linkage, and public safety. Participants expressed mixed views on police effectiveness: 39% believed police presence helps prevent overdoses, 40% felt it connects people who use drugs to services, and 52% thought it prevents drug selling. Most (66%) agreed police keep communities safe, yet only 5% endorsed incarceration for people who use drugs. Significant variations in attitudes were observed by race, urbanicity, and organization type, including near-universal opposition to incarcerating people who use drugs. While stakeholders valued police for general safety, most did not endorse their effectiveness in overdose prevention and service linkage. Policymakers implementing police non-attendance or alternative response models must proactively engage diverse local stakeholders to address specific safety concerns while leveraging the community's existing receptivity toward non-punitive overdose interventions. (© 2026. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Competing interests: None declared. Ethics approval: The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Brown University Health Institutional Review Board (#1886083). All participants provided informed consent prior to participating in the survey. |
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| Grant Information: | P20GM125507 Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose at Rhode Island Hospital |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Community attitudes; Drug policy; Harm reduction; Law enforcement; Overdose response; Police |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260329 Date Completed: 20260721 Latest Revision: 20260721 |
| Update Code: | 20260721 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10900-026-01570-1 |
| PMID: | 41904751 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-3610 |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/s10900-026-01570-1 |