Arlington Police Chief Co-Authors Opioid 'Standards Of Care'

ARLINGTON, MA – Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan was among three police chiefs to co-author a document listing guidelines for responding to the opioid crisis after attending the National Summit on Addiction Policy with other public safety, health and academic leaders.

"A group of public safety and public health experts recently convened to discuss best practices for police departments responding to the opioid crisis," according to a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg American Health Initiative press release. "Together, they developed 10 standards of care to serve as recommendations for law enforcement agencies as they grapple with this crisis."

Ryan co-authored the guidelines with Burlington, VT Police Chief Brandon Del Pozo and Chief Edward Preston from Morgantown, WV.

The 10 guidelines are below:

1. Focus on overdose deaths. Just as homicide is the leading indicator for violence, the standard of care for Departments should be to work with public health agencies toward the goal of reducing overdose deaths, using data-driven approaches and rigorous research to drive our strategies and measure effectiveness.
2. Use naloxone. Naloxone saves thousands of lives each year. To reverse otherwise fatal overdoses, the standard of care for Departments should be to equip and train officers in the use of naloxone.
3. Educate on addiction and stigma. As respected and influential voices in their communities, Police Departments and Health Departments should work together to support training and public education on addiction to dispel the stigma on people with substance use disorders. Within Police Departments, the standard of care should be for this training to be part of the naloxone program.
4. Refer to treatment. To save lives from overdose, address opioid addiction, and reduce recidivism, the standard of care should be for Departments to equip, train, and recognize officers for helping people in need to access effective treatment that offers all three FDA-approved medications, including as alternatives to arrest.
5. Advocate for “on demand” treatment access. To save lives from overdose, address opioid addiction, and reduce recidivism, the standard of care should be for Departments to advocate for “on-demand” access, in the community, to addiction treatment that offers all three FDA-approved medications.
6. Advocate for treatment for those who are incarcerated or under community supervision. To save lives from overdose, address opioid addiction, and reduce recidivism, the standard of care should be for Departments to advocate for access to effective treatment that offers all three FDA-approved medications for individuals in jail, in prison, and under community supervision with the appropriate transition to continuing care.
7. Prevent outbreaks. To reduce HIV and hepatitis outbreaks, protect officer health, and help individuals reach treatment, the standard of care should be for Departments to collaborate with public health and community-based agencies to support well-managed syringe service programs.
8. Consider fentanyl detection. To prevent death due to fentanyl and its analogues, the standard of care should be for Departments to explore efforts with public health and community partners to help individuals detect the presence of fentanyl in their drugs.
9. Explore innovation. The standard of care should be for Departments to explore with their public health, law enforcement and community partners the evidence on the efficacy of supervised consumption spaces to connect people to treatment and reduce overdoses.
10. Support Good Samaritan laws. To facilitate an effective and broad response to the opioid epidemic, the standard of care should be for Departments to work to make sure that Good Samaritan laws are understood and implemented consistent with the spirit and intent of the legislation.

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