Jeff Riorden has enjoyed quite a few interesting career paths, including police officer, paramedic, and a health practitioner in the U.S. Navy before deciding to study at the Duke School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina. All these careers have one thing in common – concern for public health and safety – which is why Jeff is also a supporter of harm reduction programs that reduce the spread of disease in our communities.
Jeff Riorden has enjoyed quite a few interesting career paths, including police officer, paramedic, and a health practitioner in the U.S. Navy before deciding to study at the Duke School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina. All these careers have one thing in common – concern for public health and safety – which is why Jeff is also a supporter of harm reduction programs that reduce the spread of disease in our communities.
Along with many of his fellow nursing students, Jeff has come out to volunteer with the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition on our outreach trips through drug user and sex worker neighborhoods in Durham where we provide education and testing for HIV and hepatitis C. On these trips, he’s spoken about his experience as a former police officer and how law enforcement could benefit from a better understanding of harm reduction programs. Programs such as syringe exchange are shown to reduce the incidence of needle-sticks to officers by 66%.
“Officers in areas with harm reduction programs are safer because even if they accidently get stuck by a needle during searches, that needle is less likely to be infected with a disease,” says Jeff. “I get it. Unfortunately many cops have tunnel-vision. They think only of stopping illegal activity, not about how the illegality of something might affect public health.”
As a police officer in Missouri, Jeff handled road patrol, domestic calls, warrants and arrests, and searches, as well as many drug trafficking cases, in which he learned a lot about law enforcement’s perception of drug use.
“Some cops are afraid that harm reduction programs might increase drug use,” says Jeff. “That’s not the case. Asking people to put a cover on a crack pipe to prevent HIV is not the same as telling them its ok to use drugs.”
Jeff is an advocate for a more holistic approach to policing, which focuses on public safety through more than just arrests. Law enforcement and harm reduction have common goals of protecting communities from harm, whether it be crime or disease..
“I think cops would benefit from going on outreach with organizations like the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition and seeing what they give to the community,” says Jeff. “We all want the same thing, it makes sense to learn from each other.”
Learn more-- The Risks of the Job: Protecting Law Enforcement from Needle Stick Injuries: http://vimeo.com/...