New drugs, new fears: synthetic opioids and adaptations to police practice.

Police officers’ work environment is continually changing, with new risks emerging quickly and unpredictably – increasing officer stress and anxiety in the process. The recent emergence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl as an illicit recreational drug has introduced into police work new, potentially life-threatening, but also somewhat ambiguous risks. Police organizations have modified their policies and practices to manage the dangers posed by these potent opioids. Questions remain, however, about how front-line officers themselves perceive these new dangers and if they are altering police practice as a result. Based on interviews and survey data with two major police departments in Canada which are at the epicenter of Canada’s overdose crisis, our study empirically examines how police officers perceive the risks of fentanyl and how they might be altering their work practices due to their beliefs about the risks associated with handling and processing fentanyl and interacting with people who sell and consume these drugs.