In order to maintain safety and order the New Haven Police department will be distributing what they are calling “harm reduction kits” to people who are released from Police custody.
These “harm reduction kits” will be including drug paraphernalia such as clean needles and up until recently glass pipes.
These Connecticut Police officers are hopeful this kit will be used elongate the lives of such addicts until they “are able to commit to seek treatment,” as reported by the New Haven Register, however in places such as San Fransisco these ‘harm reduction’ tactics correlate to a steady increase in public drug use.
The concern expressed by the New Haven Police is that those who are addicted to drugs will rush to find whatever they can to use again when they are released from Police custody, and the risk is minimized if you simply provide these individuals with the proper paraphernalia
According to the Police Chief in New Haven It is very common for officers to encounter and seize needles, and illicit substances during the process of a common arrest.
“While many think that the primary responsibility of police is to protect and enforce the laws, for us in New Haven, the primary responsibility is the protection and the preservation of life. Although there are many situations where we have to arrest, we want our people to know that want to we support every individual’s road to recovery,” said Reyes.
“This epidemic is complicated. This affects every facet of our community. And the New Haven Police Department cares deeply about every member of its community.”
Item also included in this kit will be Brillo pads to use for filtering the crack smoke in your pipe, sterilization pads, cotton, and tourniquet for injections some pamphlets about care options is the city of New Haven “among other items” such as condoms and burners.
There are residents in New Haven Connecticut who are fearful this new policy will only enable the drug use among addicts.
Those who accept these ‘harm reduction kits’ will be tracked through unique codes to monitor use, but it is unclear how closely these records can be kept with only the use of a list of those who use the kits.
