This link is from the Oakland Power Project and explains some of the connections between policing and health.
“Policing is at the core of real threats to safety and health, as policing prevents people from meeting their basic needs. Encounters with police often result in physical harm, death or in survivors and witnesses acquiring Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Even “non-lethal” or chemical weapons such as pepper spray and tear gas can cause lung-related problems, delayed menstruation, miscarriages and still births. Even when policing is seen as “successful” for locking a person up in prison, the result is the deterioration of a person’s health once imprisoned. But also the systems of policing and healthcare are interconnected, relying on one another in many ways.
In a crisis, for instance, cops are often the primary “first responders” in 911 calls and emergency plans. This prioritization of policing increases people’s interactions with police and means more harassment and arrests for more vulnerable people, including in instances of domestic violence, migrants with or without legal documentation and homeless people. With policies like mandated reporting, many people do not pursue the help they need from public resources such as schools and hospitals when facing a crisis due to fear of police involvement and escalation of violence.”