A growing number of police departments are partnering with advocacy organizations, public health agencies, addiction treatment providers, and community advocates to develop collaborative reforms aimed at reducing unnecessary arrests and expanding access to health care, housing, and other social services, a report from the Vera Institute of Justice finds. To advance harm reduction and promote public health, the report, First Do No Harm: Advancing Public Health in Policing Practices (28 pages, PDF), recommends that police departments, advocacy groups, and local governments work together to respond to the interrelated issues of drug use, mental illness, sex work, and poverty; minimize arrests around harm reduction clinics; create overdose prevention programs that expand the use of medication-assisted treatment and support the distribution of naloxone; develop pre-arrest and pre-booking diversion programs that offer alternatives to jail, including crisis intervention teams and community drop-off centers that provide a variety of clinical, medical, and social services; and align public health metrics and incentives to improve both public health and public safety.