When police respond to 911 calls about people experiencing homelessness or mental health crises, the results can be lethal[1]. As protests against police brutality continue to grip the nation, cities are beginning to acknowledge that law enforcement isn’t well equipped to handle these cases.
Instead, there’s growing momentum not just for defunding police, but for investing in harm reduction practices — ones that don’t criminalize people experiencing homelessness or substance misuse, but approach these issues as public health matters that are best handled with communal resources.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced[2] earlier this month that police will no longer be the first to respond to calls involving the homeless, mental health crises and conflicts among neighbors. Members of the Los Angeles City Council are pushing to do the same[3]. House Democrats[4] unveiled legislation[5] aimed at not just curbing police brutality, but establishing a grant program “to help communities to re-imagine and develop concrete, just and equitable public safety approaches.” Implementing these policies would contribute to the work that harm reductionists have been doing with little support for over 30 years.
The idea behind harm reduction is that looking at people not as criminals, but individuals experiencing a public health crisis, leads to better outcomes. Syringe exchange programs have proven to reduce[6] both infectious diseases and lethal overdoses. Medication-assisted therapy[7] is shown to successfully help individuals overcome opioid and alcohol addiction[8]. Harm reduction groups have long been on the front lines of feeding and finding shelter for the homeless.
“In the 30-year history of harm reduction in this country, it has always been in the shadow of policing,” said Daniel Raymond, deputy director of planning and policy at the