Police violence among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Int J Drug Policy
• Personal Author:
  Park, Ju Nyeong ; Linton, Sabriya L. ; Sherman, Susan G. ; German, Danielle
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Police violence is a deleterious public health and criminal justice issue that disproportionately affects PWID. Studies documenting the prevalence and correlates of physical police violence in this population are rare. The aim of this study was to examine the correlates of past year physical police violence among an urban sample of PWID.
  
  Methods:
  
  PWID participating in the 2015 wave of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system recruited in Baltimore City, Maryland completed a socio-behavioral survey. Multivariable logistic regression was used to detect the socio-demographic, place-based, law-enforcement and health behavior correlates of exposure to police violence as well as knowledge of violence directed towards other PWID.
  
  Results:
  
  Enrolled PWID (N=570) were mostly male (72%), non-Hispanic black (77%) and daily heroin injectors (86%). Seven percent had experienced past year physical police violence (Respondent-Driven Sampling [RDS] weighted estimate: 4%), and a quarter (24%) knew someone who had experienced police violence in the past year (RDS-weighted estimate: 17%). Male gender, homelessness, arrest, drug paraphernalia confiscation, and receptive syringe sharing were independently associated with police violence. Knowing someone who had experienced police violence was independently correlated with selling drugs, arrest, and attending a syringe services program.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Population differences in the extent of police violence exposure indicate that experiences of police violence are not uniform among PWID. Violent encounters with police were associated with disruptions in harm reduction strategies that can prevent HIV and HCV transmission. This study adds to the small body of public health literature on police violence and highlights the importance of monitoring and addressing this critical issue.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Addiction Adult Article Baltimore Female HIV Infections Humans Law Enforcement Male Middle Aged Police Prevalence Public Health Substance Abuse, Intravenous Substance Use Trauma Violence

  More +
• Source:
  Int J Drug Policy. 64:54-61
• Pubmed ID:
  30579221
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8370125
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U1B PS003259/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  64
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f22b606f62a13b5e0ddfb590a10f0d7fc015777bd60223419418ec32dc6cbc1f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/108997/cdc_108997_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 124.59 KB ]