Full Notification

The Petaluma Police first began equipping officers with anti-opioid medication in April of 2018 when the department implemented an anti-opioid field program.  Commonly known as Narcan, the anti-opioid nasal spray medication almost immediately blocks opioid receptors in the brain, providing short-term overdose prevention.
 
The goal of our program is to provide our officers with the medication in the hopes that should they respond to or discover an individual overdosing they could provide medical aid until members of the Petaluma Fire Department arrive.  Since that time officers have administered numerous doses of Narcan to community members overdosing on opiates.  Additionally, there is growing concern in the law enforcement community that officers may be accidentally or intentionally exposed to dangerous opiates during the course of their patrol shifts.  Should an officer or their partner become exposed to an opiate and experience overdose symptoms they can now administer the medication to themselves or their partner while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
 
As the Department evaluated ways to expand our program we were approached by the Leadership Petaluma Class of 2019, who sought to assist the community in making Narcan more readily available should an emergency occur.  Leadership Class member Jonathan Ciampi, whose work at Bright Heart Health involves employing harm reduction strategies, alerted the class and the Petaluma Police Department to a new California Department of Public Health program which provides multiple doses free of charge to individuals, businesses and groups who will agree to distribute the Narcan doses and ensure that people who could potentially use them are trained in Narcan’s use. 

The Leadership Petaluma class successfully obtained 96 free doses for the Petaluma Police Department and an additional 240 doses for organizations and individuals who wish to have Naloxone on hand for emergency use.  These 96 doses will allow our department to continue to outfit our staff with the medication, expand our current program, and replaces doses that have been used or are expiring.

We have found that in emergency situations where an individual is overdosing seconds matter and could be the difference between life and death.  The Petaluma Police Department would like to remind everyone in the community that Section 11376.5 of the California Health and Safety Code prohibits the arrest or prosecution of any person under the influence of narcotics, in possession of narcotics, or in possession of drug paraphernalia when they seek medical assistance for a person experiencing an overdose and they do not obstruct medical or law enforcement personnel.  Petaluma Police Department requests 9-1-1 be promptly called at the first signs that someone may be overdosing or having a medical emergency.
 
Petaluma Police Department continues to work diligently to reduce the amount of narcotics available in our community.  Petaluma Police Department’s most important goal is to keep narcotics and prescription medications out of the hands of the youth of our community.  Petaluma Police also continues to participate in the Safe Medicine Disposal Program and our anonymous drop-off bin located in the lobby of the police department is available 24/7 to dispose of your wanted or unused medication.  Please refer to the Safe Medicine Disposal Program’s website at www.safemedicinedisposal.org for further information regarding what is accepted and how to safely handle medication being disposed.
 
We would like to recognize and thank members of the Leadership Petaluma Class of 2019 for their assistance and partnership on this project.  If you are interested in learning how to administer Narcan and obtaining doses, please contact Jonathan Ciampi at [email protected].

Leadership is an educational program organized by the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce. Each month for nine months, class members tour and study a different sector of the local economy. Each class chooses a project to complete as a group. Past projects have included a renovation of the Salvation Army Service Center and fundraising to repair The Polly Klaas Theater.