Wednesday 5 November 2014

New Jersey State Police and Heroin Deaths

Last week I had the privilege to vist the New Jersey State Police including their state of the art Regional Operations Intelligence Centre.
One of the presentations was particualrly pertinent in the light of the current comments on drug abuse approaches. 
They suffer in the region of 1300 heroin deaths a year and just under 9000 near misses out of a population of 8M which by any UK measure is high. However it has really driven the relationship between Heath and Law Enforcement. Whilst relationships at an operational level are usually excellent, at the strategic level and collaboration level it becomes a little disjointed. Anyone interested in exploring how to make Police and Health work  together would do well to consider the approach they have taken. Yes, it does involve sharing data, but not directly personal and it does help to focus attention.
An example of that approach is a willingness to really drive the issue of Heroin abuse as a health issue rather than just, "Arresting" their way out of the issue. 
Below is an example of one of the initiatives
http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-police-get-ok-to-carry-nasal-spray-that-can-halt-heroin-overdose-1.1036480
For those interested in the tactical equipment end of policing the NJ State Police can show you a wide range of kit.


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