The Manager's report back on providing easily accessible needle safety information on the City's website

Response to Policy Order #19, adopted 2/26/18

Excerpt of Order: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with relevant City and Cambridge Public Health Department staff to create a formal 24/7 response program for residents to report, and the City to remove, dangerous syringes and needles; and be it further that the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with City staff to provide easily accessible needle safety information, to include emergency needle or syringe removal and disposal contacts, on the City’s website. (For full text: http://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=645)

Cambridge emergency communications, public safety, and public health officials have developed a formal protocol for residents to report used needles and syringes to the city for safe disposal. The protocol is as follows:

If residents or visitors find needles or syringes in public places (e.g., streets, sidewalks, parks, city buildings) in Cambridge, they can: Call the Cambridge Police Department’s 24/7 business line: [phone removed].

If the needles or syringes pose an immediate safety threat, residents should call 911.

If the person reporting wishes to remain anonymous, he or she can: Call the city’s Anonymous Crime/Drug Tip Hotline: [phone removed]. Please note that this method is not an immediate response as it is a voice mail messaging system. Text an anonymous tip to Tip411 (847411). More information can be accessed on the

Cambridge Police Department website: http://www.cambridgepolice.org/Tips

Send an anonymous email tip, which can be accessed from the Cambridge Police Department’s website: http://www.cambridgepolice.org/Tips.

Once a call, text, or email is received, the city’s Emergency Communications Department will dispatch the Fire Department or the Pro EMS ambulance service to retrieve and dispose of the items.

People who report needles or syringes are advised to avoid touching them, and if they’re able, to wait for the arrival of the responders in order to help them locate the items.

The Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD) will work with city partners and AIDS Action Committee’s state-funded syringe exchange program in Cambridge to develop “plain language” needle safety information. This information, along with the above-stated reporting information, will be posted on the CPHD and city websites by mid-July.