Pubdate: Fri, 02 Nov 2012
Source: Sentinel Review (CN ON)
Contact: http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/letters
Copyright: 2012 Woodstock Sentinel Review
Website: http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2385
Author: Heather Rivers

DO OVERDOSES AND POLICE MIX?

WOODSTOCK - Should local police being attending all 9-1-1 overdose calls?

One Waterloo watchdog believes it's time to start rethinking how 
police respond to overdose calls due to the barriers that exist for 
people who use drugs making 9-1-1 calls.

Mike Parkinson of the Waterloo Crime Prevention Council explains 
accidental poisoning, or drug overdoses, are considered the third 
leading cause of accidental death in Ontario.

And he says many addicts refuse to call 9-1-1 during an overdose 
event because they are worried about police laying charges during 
their response.

"It really is a life and death on the line," he said. "But in 
fairness to police units and EMS units this is a fairly new issue to 
wrestle with and there are some important choices to make."

Parkinson contacted the Sentinel-Review after reading online about an 
incident where a Woodstock man was charged for possession after his 
friend overdosed on Fentanyl and called 9-1-1.

Police say they found stolen identification, including a social 
insurance number, in the man's Princess Street home.

Parkinson said his concern is that when the story leaks out into the 
community, drug users will be hesitant to contact police, for fear of 
charges being laid.

Waterloo's Crime Prevention Council recently produced a 
first-of-its-kind report entitled Between Life and Death: The 
Barriers to Calling 9-1-1 During an Overdose.

The report found that fear of the criminal justice system is the 
number one reason that people who use drugs don't contact police in 
an overdose situation.

It's a worrisome dilemma for Parkinson.

"It is only in a minority of overdose incidents that serious criminal 
activity goes on," he said.

He said of the 450 drug users surveyed in the report, 46% did not 
call 9-1-1 during the last overdose they witnessed.

"If you have a cardiac arrest, you don't call 46% of the time," Parkinson said.

In other jurisdictions, such as Vancouver, police have tackled the 
issue through non-attendance at overdose calls.

"That's one police option," he said. "Anecdotally it seems to be working well."

Ten U.S. states have passed Good Samaritan overdose laws that grant 
immunity from drug possession charges for those calling 9-1-1 and the 
overdose victim.

"Their primary focus is not to lay charges," Parkinson said. "Their 
concern is for the protection of life."

Woodstock Police chief Rod Freeman refers to the overdose issue as 
"complicated" but says not attending would be neglectful and a 
serious crime could possibly go undetected."

"I understand both views. But, I do think there's value and community 
benefit to having police attend overdoses to look into the 
surrounding circumstances," he said. "We don't lay criminal charges 
in each and every incident we attend if there's lawful justification 
or circumstances that justify clearing an event another way."

Joe Pember of Oxford EMS said when police arrive at a scene during an 
overdose situation it is "for safety, and that's appropriate."

"For most of the county, police don't listen to EMS calls, there's no 
eavesdropping," said Joe Pember of Oxford EMS. "I haven't seen that 
as an issue in Oxford County."

"Should they be laying charging? I can't answer that, that's a police matter."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom