Windsor's new police chief is not slamming the door on equipping officers with naloxone kits.
"Definitely not slamming the door on it, definitely not," says Chief Pam Mizuno. "With any program that we have in place in our service, we always have to re-assess where we are at, the landscape changes so quickly, our environment always changes, the policing changes and we have to be able to adapt to that."
Mizuno's predecessor, Al Frederick, was against equipping Windsor police officers saying EMS were best suited to handle the medical emergency.
Naloxone interrupts the effects of an opioid overdose, therefore giving the person time to get medical attention.
Windsor is the only major city in Ontario where its police officers don't carry naloxone.
Chief Mizuno says she is open to evaluating it in the future.
"Of course, if the landscape changes and if the situation in our city changes, we are constantly going to assess and if need be, we will issue naloxone but at this point in time, the data we have, we are going to continue with not issuing those kits at the moment," says Chief Mizuno.
President of the Windsor Police Association Jason DeJong is pleased the chief is open to allowing officers to carry naloxone in the future.
"From a membership perspective, I think it is important that the new chief be open to reconsider past decisions and that naloxone is an important decision," he says. "It can, if carried by our frontline officers and our members, it can help save one of our member's lives from a health and safety perspective or if policy dictates, to be administered to the public."
Windsor and Essex County have the seventh highest rate of people who use opioids in Ontario.
Public Health Ontario reports there were 22 opioid-related deaths in this region in the first three months of 2019.
As for a Supervised Injection Site, Chief Mizuno admits there are concerns saying it increases crime in the area but police are a partner in the community, and would work with the health unit if one is approved for Windsor.