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In total there are over 40 papers in this collection, and these have been divided into six sections. To view the documents in each section, as well as a description of the section itself, please click on the links below.
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1. Overviews
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2. Strategies and Policies
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3. Needle Exchanges
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4. Crackdowns and Enforcement
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5. Police Conduct & Human Rights
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6. Advocacy
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1. Overviews
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The papers in this section examine the need for law enforcement strategies to embrace harm reduction approaches, and document the ways that this can be done. They provide an introduction to this complex area of drug policy, and an insight into police attitudes towards drug users. Inevitably, the focus of law enforcers is to reduce crime, but this can often come at a significant cost to public health – so a great deal of attention has been paid on how to reach a compromise (as these goals do not have to mutually exclusive). Most of the documents in this section come from Australia, but the key lessons are clearly transferable on a global basis.
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Click here to view the papers in this section
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2. Strategies and Policies
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This section highlights some specific examples of policing strategies and approaches that fit within harm reduction ideologies. There are examples from Australia and Scotland of law enforcement policy documents that openly embrace harm reduction, as well as examples from the UK and Portugal where systems have been implemented to divert arrested drug users away from incarceration and into drug treatment services.
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Click here to view the papers in this section
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3. Needle Exchanges
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Needle and syringe exchange programmes (NEPs) are a scientifically proven intervention to reduce a wide range of harms for drug injectors (not least HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, bacterial infections, injecting wounds and overdose). However, as a result of the criminal nature of illicit drug use, the success of NEPs is largely dependent on the attitudes and actions of local police. This section includes examples of best practice, worst practice (and legal challenges), advocacy guides aimed at the police, and studies on the attitudes of law enforcement personnel towards NEPs and their clients.
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4. Crackdowns and Enforcement
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The majority of research and investigation into policing and harm reduction has focussed on the negative impacts of police crackdowns and zero tolerance policies. This section includes studies from Australia, USA, Canada, China and Thailand. The evidence suggests that zero tolerance policing approaches have a limited positive impact on drug markets and drug use, but significant negative impacts on drug service uptake, harm reduction and drug-related risk behaviours. If police presence or perceived risks of arrest are too high, drug users are less likely to engage with services or practice harm reducing behaviours, and likely to be driven further underground.
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5. Police Conduct & Human Rights
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The papers in this section overview the human rights implications of police misconduct towards drug users, as well as some other studies relating to police conduct. With an increasing international appreciation and defence of the basic human rights of vulnerable populations, a great deal of scrutiny is often given to police conduct when arresting and detaining drug users. Cases of police persecution and misconduct tend to generate a lot of media and public interest and can exacerbate the negative perceptions of law enforcers.
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6. Advocacy
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The biggest challenge for this particular field is turning the research and theory into policy and practice. The papers in this section discuss how this can be achieved through (among other things) partnerships, better communication, and sensitisation training for police personnel. Harm reduction must challenge the misinformation and myth that often acts as a barrier to its implementation, especially amongst law enforcers.
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Click here to view the papers in this section
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