Improving Interactions between Law Enforcement and People Who Use Alcohol and Drugs

The Community-Law Enforcement Aligning in Response to Substance Use (CLEARS) Project is legislatively funded in contract with the Washington State Health Care Authority to develop regional solutions to improve interactions between law enforcement and people who use drugs.

In 2022-2023, ADAI worked with three sites across Washington State (Clallam, Thurston, Yakima) to use a “policy codesign” process to bring together local law enforcement, people with lived/living experience of drug use and legal involvement, and other stakeholders. Currently, the project is in its 2.0 phase where it is funded for an additional two years where we are collaborating with four new sites (Grant, Chelan/Douglas, Kitsap, Whatcom). The goals of this project are to:

1. Develop regional solutions to improve interactions between law enforcement and people who use drugs through a policy codesign process, a process that brings together local stakeholders to build relationships, learn about their community, and brainstorm new ideas.
2. Develop materials for future regions to engage in a similar codesign process and/or implement these solutions in their own communities.
3. Learn how participants felt about the policy codesign process to inform potential future efforts.