Police officers, stigma, and the opioid epidemic
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355720962524 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Police officers, stigma,
and the opioid epidemic
Nathan E Kruis
Department of Criminal Justice, Penn State Altoona, USA
Jaeyong Choi
Department of Security Studies and Criminal Justice, Angelo State University, USA
Richard H Donohue
Behavioral and Policy Sciences Division, RAND Corp, USA
Abstract
Researchers have suggested that provider-based stigma of substance use disorders is one barrier to fighting the opioid
epidemic. Yet, to date, virtually no study has examined provider-based stigma among law enforcement officers who are on
the front line of the opioid crisis. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by assessing provider-based stigma
toward opioid-using persons among a sample of 208 police officers working for departments located in the Northeastern
Region of the United States. Resul ts show that officers hold relati vely high levels of stigma toward th is vulnerable
population, as measured by perceptions of dangerousness, blame, and social distance; however, comparatively, officers
hold less fatalistic views toward this group of persons. Additionally, our multivariable analyses indicated that officer rank,
support for the disease model of addiction, and beliefs about the demographic characteristics of a substance-using person
are significantly associated with provider-based stigma among officers. Potential policy implications are discussed within.
Keywords
Law enforcement, stigma, opioid overdose, opioid use
Submitted 24 Mar 2020, Revise received 29 May 2020, accepted 31 Jul 2020
Introduction
The opioid epidemic is having an unprecedented impact on
American culture and its system of justice. On average, 130
people die from opioid-related overdoses every day in the
United States, and another 2.3 million Americans struggle
with substance use disorders related to prescription opioids
and heroin (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2019). Data
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform
Crime Report (2018) indicated that drug abuse violations
are the category for which the largest number of arrests
were made in 2017, and nearly one-third of those arrests
involved opioids pain pills or heroin. Further, it is estimated
that more than half of the American prison population has
struggled with opioid dependency at some point in their
lives (Mumola and Karberg, 2006), and one in five inmates
was an active user of these drugs in the month immediately
preceding incarceration (Bureau of Justice Statistics,
2017).
In response to this epidemic, law enforcement depart-
ments are equipping officers with naloxone, which has
been found to reverse respiratory depression caused by
opioid or heroin overdose (National Institute of Justice
[NIJ], 2019). Naloxone has been shown to save lives and
improve police–community relationships (Davis et al.,
2015; NIJ, 2019; Rees et al., 2017). However, only about
Corresponding author:
Nathan E Kruis, Penn State Altoona, 3000 Ivyside Park, Altoona, PA
16601, USA.
Email: nek132@psu.edu
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(4) 393–406
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355720962524
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