WATCH: NYPD cop whips out gun and screams 'go shoot heroin and die' outside addiction clinic
September 10, 2018
As municipalities grapple with how to address the opioid crisis, which has resulted in a premature death rate surpassing gun deaths and car crashes, experts agree that harm reduction approaches like medically assisted treatment (MAT) are essential.
Yet in many cases, treatment clinics have a fraught relationship with law enforcement, and it's previously been reported that cops patrol methadone clinics for easy collars.
One NYPD officer made his feelings abundantly clear over the weekend. In a clip posted to Twitter, a cop was seeing whipping out his gun and telling a manĀ "take a f*cking walk right now," the Gothamist reports.
"There's no reason to pull out a gun," the man said. In response, the officer shouted,"Go shoot your f*cking heroin and die. Alright?"
The NYPD released a statement to Gothamist, saying: "The commanding officer has been made aware of the video and is looking into it."
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