Leading a Community Solution to a Community Problem

The current opioid epidemic did not start overnight, and the situation has continued to progress significantly over the past two decades. Since the late 1990s, chiefs of police have battled this epidemic with traditional law enforcement interdiction and enforcement tactics as unacceptable numbers of people have lost their lives to unintentional opioid overdose deaths. Police officers had a front row seat to this crisis. Police have recognized that the traditional “war against drugs” is not working. As a result, the police chiefs in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, did what they do best: they adjusted, adapted, and began to problem solve.