This study, which aimed to identify rural jurisdictions with high drug overdose rates and collaborate with mentors to create law enforcement intelligence responses to local opioid problems, concluded that the goal should be immediate and accessible intelligence for patrol officers, without investment in analytics.
This project, which aimed to identify rural jurisdictions with high drug overdose rates and collaborate with mentors to create law enforcement intelligence responses to local opioid problems, concluded that funds can be well spent in rural places, but found risks and difficulties in investing in departments with little resource slack, lacking in administrative capacity, and few personnel or hours of investment available. Therefore, immediate and accessible intelligence for patrol officers without investment in analytics likely should be the goal. The study’s first step was to control for known contributors to opioid death largely beyond the control of law enforcement, focusing on outlier jurisdictions. Maps of drug overdose deaths were used to identify high overdose places by drug type. A survey of law enforcement agencies provided an understanding of intelligence resources in rural areas. An intelligence strategy appropriate to rural departments was developed in collaboration with participating agencies. Evaluation of outcomes included a survey, qualitative interviews, and official data. The most successful departments implemented efforts based on information learned in previous collaborations with better resourced areas.