Leo Beletsky1, Daliah Heller2, Samuel M Jenness3, Alan Neaigus2, Camila Gelpi-Acosta4, Holly Hagan5. 1. Northeastern University School of Law and Bouvé College of Health Sciences, 400 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Division of Global Public Health, UCSD School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA. Electronic address: leob@alumni.brown.edu. 2. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 125 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. 3. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 357236, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. 4. National Development and Research Institutes, 71 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010, USA. 5. New York University College of Nursing, 726 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Injection drug user (IDU) experience and perceptions of police practices may alter syringe exchange program (SEP) use or influence risky behaviour. Previously, no community-level data had been collected to identify the prevalence or correlates of police encounters reported by IDUs in the United States. METHODS: New York City IDUs recruited through respondent-driven sampling were asked about past-year police encounters and risk behaviours, as part of the National HIV Behavioural Surveillance study. Data were analysed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: A majority (52%) of respondents (n=514) reported being stopped by police officers; 10% reported syringe confiscation. In multivariate modelling, IDUs reporting police stops were less likely to use SEPs consistently (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.40-0.89), and IDUs who had syringes confiscated may have been more likely to share syringes (AOR=1.76; 95% CI=0.90-3.44), though the finding did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that police encounters may influence consistent SEP use. The frequency of IDU-police encounters highlights the importance of including contextual and structural measures in infectious disease risk surveillance, and the need to develop approaches harmonizing structural policing and public health.
BACKGROUND: Injection drug user (IDU) experience and perceptions of police practices may alter syringe exchange program (SEP) use or influence risky behaviour. Previously, no community-level data had been collected to identify the prevalence or correlates of police encounters reported by IDUs in the United States. METHODS: New York City IDUs recruited through respondent-driven sampling were asked about past-year police encounters and risk behaviours, as part of the National HIV Behavioural Surveillance study. Data were analysed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: A majority (52%) of respondents (n=514) reported being stopped by police officers; 10% reported syringe confiscation. In multivariate modelling, IDUs reporting police stops were less likely to use SEPs consistently (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.40-0.89), and IDUs who had syringes confiscated may have been more likely to share syringes (AOR=1.76; 95% CI=0.90-3.44), though the finding did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that police encounters may influence consistent SEP use. The frequency of IDU-police encounters highlights the importance of including contextual and structural measures in infectious disease risk surveillance, and the need to develop approaches harmonizing structural policing and public health.
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