On April 27, 2016, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) convened a forum to explore how the public health and public safety sectors can better collaborate to address the opioid epidemic. At the forum, nearly 100 law enforcement officials, public health providers, prosecutors, researchers, federal officials, and other experts discussed strategies for building partnerships and shared promising programs from the field. Chapter 1 of this publication discusses how law enforcement agencies, public health providers, prosecutors, and others are partnering to connect people to treatment and recovery services. Chapter 2 focuses on the use of naloxone by law enforcement agencies to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. Chapter 3 discusses programs aimed at reducing the rise of HIV, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases that are spread when people share contaminated needles and syringes. Chapter 4 looks at how law enforcement agencies and public health organizations can use public health data to develop policies and programs aimed at addressing opioid abuse.
