Crime Down, 311 Drug Calls Up Near NYC Safe Injection Sites: Study

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY - Overall crime reports and medical-related 911 calls dipped in the areas around New York City’s safe injection sites in the first two years since they opened, a new study found.

The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open and co-authored by ex-NYPD precinct commander Brandon del Pozo, found the immediate areas near the two sites (at 104-106 East 126th St. in East Harlem and 500 West 180th St. in Washington Heights) have seen drugs and weapons possession arrests decrease by 82.7% and by 56.5% respectively since 2021, compared with over a dozen pre-existing needle exchange sites in New York City that don’t offer on-site overdose prevention services.

In the broader neighborhoods around the injection sites, crime-related arrests fell by 15.9% compared to other areas of the city; a 33.4% decline in medical-related 911 calls was also reported, according to the study. Monthly 911 calls for crime and other matters decreased by 30.1% at the safe injection sites and plateaued at the comparison needle exchange sites.

911 calls for medical emergencies also decreased around the safe injection sites by 50.1%; during the same time, the comparison sites saw an 8.6% decrease, according to the study.

But not all types of emergency calls were curbed, the study points out.

Monthly 311 calls for drug activity rose 106% near the safe injection sites and 33.3% near the comparison needle exchange sites, though the authors noted the overall call volume for the calls remained low; felony reports also rose at both safe injection sites locations by 21% and at comparison needle exchange sites by 18%. The study’s authors attributed that increase to “the general rise in crime in NYC during the study period, an increase predominantly driven by property crime.”

Safe injection sites, also called overdose prevention centers, provide a space where drug users can consume illicit drugs under the supervision of trained staff with the goal of mitigating overdoses. New York City’s safe injection sites, operated by harm reduction coalition OnPoint NYC, opened on Nov. 30, 2021 and are the first two government-sanctioned overdose prevention centers in the U.S. Since opening, the centers have seen over 2,300 visitors about 55,000 times, requiring more than 700 overdose interventions with no fatalities. Alongside supervision, OnPoint staffers also provide clean needles, fentanyl tests and addiction treatment options, among other services.

“While these data suggest OPCs are well equipped to reduce the risk of fatal overdoses, their effects on crime and disorderly behavior have yet to be evaluated,” the study’s authors wrote.

To prepare the report, the study's authors used data from the NYC Open Data portal including criminal complaints, arrest reports, criminal court summonses, 911 and 311 call records from Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2022. Data from the safe injection site’s immediate area and surrounding neighborhood were compared to corresponding data from 17 pre-existing needle exchange sites in New York City that don’t offer on-site overdose prevention services. Researchers also looked at two alternative comparison groups with similar levels of felony crime reports and drug arrests.

“The comparative reduction in drug possession arrests and criminal court summonses around the OPCs after they opened was notable,” the authors added. “In a city where the police department reports to the mayor’s office, these decreases were consistent with the mayor’s pronounced support for the OPCs, and the city’s intention to open several additional locations.”

Safe injection sites were first introduced by former mayor Bill de Blasio and have been famously upheld by Mayor Eric Adams, who called for an expansion of similar sites earlier this year. In March, the current mayor said he plans to increase the number of safe injection sites in New York City under a $20 million plan to reduce fatal overdoses 15 percent by 2025. Read more: NYC Aims To Lower Drug Overdose Deaths 15% By 2025: Mayor

But safe injection sites are far from touted across the board, with Manhattan’s federal prosecutor most recently calling for a shutdown of the "unacceptable" sites in August.

“I have repeatedly said that the opioid epidemic is a law enforcement crisis and a public health crisis. But I am an enforcer, not a policymaker,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, told The New York Times this year. “My office is prepared to exercise all options — including enforcement — if this situation does not change in short order.”

Xavier Santiago, chair of Community Board 11 in Harlem, told Gothamist the study's data may be inaccurate as many residents don't bother calling 311. Instead, some have a relationship with the local police precinct and make direct complaints.

“As a board, we have been vocalizing that people should trust the process [of calling 311], that it will get registered, because those data sets matter,” Santiago told the outlet.

The report's researchers similarly emphasized a "cooperative relationship between police and [safe injection sites]" in order to "enhance their effectiveness as a lifesaving intervention while minimizing behaviors that would erode public support for such initiatives."

You can read the full study here.