Valuable Lives to Save’ vs. ‘Babysitting These People While They Try to Kill Themselves’

Changing Police Attitudes Towards Safe Consumption Sites

Bibliographic Data

ID8894151
AuthorsRebekah McNeilly (University of Alberta, corresponding author), Luciano Berardi (0000-0002-4734-9168, McMaster University), Luca Berardi (0000-0001-5894-7502, McMaster University), Kevin D Haggerty (0000-0003-3864-6811, University of Alberta), Sandra Buceriu (0000-0002-7742-3103, University of Alberta), Sandra M Bucerius (University of Alberta), Harvey Krahn (0000-0003-0445-1573, University of Alberta)
Year2024
Volume64
Issue6
Pages1275-1291
Publication date2024-04-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/bjc/azae021
OpenAlexW4394694760
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited61

North American police responses to the ‘drug issue’ have long been shaped by a crime control rather than a harm reduction imperative. Consequently, police officers’ responses to safe consumption sites (SCSs), where people who use illicit drugs can reduce personal health risks by administering previously obtained drugs in the presence of trained staff, were initially hostile. This paper draws on interview data from police officers in two western Canadian cities to highlight an apparent softening in attitudes, perhaps due to the current fentanyl-driven drug poisoning crisis. While some officers clearly recognized their public health benefits, others accepted SCSs, acknowledging the futility of a continued ‘war on drugs’. Some voiced reservations about SCSs, but not because of a generic ‘drugs are bad’ sentiment. Rather, they worried about specific downstream implications for communities and police work. These findings, reflecting apparent changes in police officers’ responses to SCSs, are discussed in the context of contemporary debates about police culture and the possibilities and desirability of pursuing police reform

Business · Computer security · Consumption (sociology · Environmental health · Forensic engineering · Internet privacy · Sociology · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Engineering · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues

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