Welcome to the Coalition Of Police Supporting Harm Reduction – COPS HR!
COPS HR has been established within the Burnet Institute’s Centre for Harm Reduction (CHR) and is managed and maintained by Greg Denham, the Senior Technical Adviser for Law Enforcement within CHR. Greg is a former police officer with over 22 years experience in the field.
The aim of COPS HR is to establish a network of police who are supportive of, or want to know more about, the police role in reducing the harms associated with illicit drug use with specific reference to needle and syringe programs, methadone, supervised injecting facilities, peer education and outreach work.
COPS HR can also assist individuals and organizations working with police in addressing drug issues such as primary health care providers, government and non-government organisations, project workers and community groups. COPS HR aims to develop positive working relationships between police, health care workers, community groups and government agencies.
COPS HR provides a forum for information sharing, debating, discussing and connecting police and others, whether they are existing supporters of harm reduction or not.
COPS HR also provides:
- advice and support for police and other officials working within the criminal justice system who wish to know more about policies and practices that are aimed at reducing the harms associated with illicit drug use
- access to harm reduction training and education material for police
- a forum for sharing information, experiences, problem-solving and ideas
- examples of police policies and practices that support harm reduction
- advocacy tools for harm reduction with police
For more information, including training and other resource material, click on the following email link and send your query/request to: copshr@burnet.edu.au
Please feel free to promote the network to police and others wherever possible.
