A Community Safety Department Update

Update on the City of Cambridge Community Safety Department

This memo serves as an update on the work done by the Community Safety Department since our last update in September 2023. The document provides an overview of our department, updates on the Department’s work over the past five months, and highlights of our plans for the coming months. You will find the following sections: Overview (pgs. 1-2) Goals (pg. 2) Staffing Update (pgs. 2-3) Operational Readiness & Scope of Activities (pgs.

3-4) Community Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) Team Training & Community Outreach (pgs. 4-6) Durham Site Visit (pg. 6) Operating Policies (pg. 6) Performance Management (pgs. 6-7) Software & Data (pg. 7) Strategic & Technical Assistance (pg. 7) Cambridge HEART Update (pg. 8) Community Engagement & Contact (pgs. 8-9) Appendix (pgs. 10-11)

Community Safety Department (CSD) Overview

As we shared in our last update, the Community Safety Department’s Steering Committee assisted in developing the following mission and values statements.

Mission Statement:

The Cambridge Community Safety Department’s (CSD) mission is to provide additional services to enhance the community’s health and well-being. We value compassion in our prevention and intervention efforts. The Community Safety Department is guided by the following values: 1. We are continuously learning, evolving and reimagining our approach in order to best meet the needs of the community we serve. Our department culture embraces a growth mindset and values curiosity, humility and our shared humanity. 2. We commit to continue exploring restorative practices in order to build empathy, compassion and help repair trust in the community in creative ways.

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3. We center relationships, partnerships, authentic collaboration and joy in all of our work. We are guided by the wisdom, insights and experiences of those who came before us and those who are doing the work today to build solutions in community. We are intentionally laying groundwork for the future we envision. 4. We are consciously not reproducing systems of oppression and aim to create equitable, anti- racist and non-discriminatory ways of serving our community. 5. We acknowledge the historical implications of the criminal legal system and the harm it has done to our communities. With this understanding, we value the dignity and humanity of all people.

CSD Goals

Drawing upon input from the CSD Steering Committee, staff, and partners, CSD has also developed the following draft departmental goals: 1. Establish trust between the City’s vulnerable communities and Community Assistance Response and Engagement’s (CARE) holistic services through community member follow-up and feedback. 2.

Through effective triaging by 9-1-1 and first responders, provide a civilian-based response for 9- 1-1 calls that do not involve violence, physical safety or urgent medical issues and do not require an enforcement approach, especially for (but not limited to) cases involving mental health issues, substance use, and homelessness. 3.

Improve connections to appropriate voluntary short-term and long-term community resources for those calling 9-1-1 or receiving other crisis assistance, especially for (but not limited to) high utilizers of the City’s crisis services (e.g., emergency room, shelters, etc.). 4. Provide an alternative response to traditional enforcement-based approaches, reducing reliance on trips to ER and involuntary hospitalizations.

Staffing Update

The Community Safety Department’s full time-staff include:

Liz Speakman, LICSW, Director

Marie Mathieu, LICSW, Assistant Director of Clinical Services

Andy Lovley, Assistant Director of Administration & Operations

Michele Scott, Program Coordinator

Kara Blue, Administrative Coordinator

Jeff Alger, CARE Responder

Matt Gomes, CARE Responder

Dimitri Virgile, CARE Responder

Jade Young, CARE Responder

Evelyn Lueders-Booth, CARE Clinician

In addition to the staff above, we have also been working closely with Leah Crawford, the current MSW Intern with CSD and the Cambridge Library, and Caroline LeMay, Special Assistant to the City Manager. Since our last update in September, we have hired Marie Mathieu full-time as our Assistant Director of Clinical Services and Andy Lovley as our Assistant Director of Operations and Administration. We received 120+ applications for these roles. To facilitate these hires, we conducted a total of 26 phone screening interviews, 14 in-person interviews, six reference checks and two offers, both of which were enthusiastically accepted!

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Our interview panels included: Liz Speakman, Marie Mathieu, Michele Scott, Kara Blue, as well as Deputy Superintendent John Boyle and Manisha Tibrewal from the Cambridge Police Department. We are grateful to all the community partners and City personnel who were involved in our hiring process!

Operational Readiness & Scope of Activities

We continue to be focused on launching the CARE Team’s 9-1-1 response in Spring 2024. Coverage upon initial launch will be slightly modified due to a smaller than expected staff. However, the Department remains highly confident in its ability to effectively make a difference in the community through its outreach and follow-up efforts. Starting this month, the CARE Team will begin responding to Needle Pickup Calls in public spaces across Cambridge.

CSD has received the necessary approvals for the CARE Team to respond to the following incident types upon launch (for which the Emergency Communications Department (ECD) has created a CSD-specific triage protocol): Check Person – Report of welfare checks when no crimes are reported or suspected Needle Pick Up – Pick-up needles in parks or public places.

Notify Citizen – Delivering emergency/death notification messages for emergencies/deaths that do not concern criminal matters, investigations, or homicides Psych/Mental Health 25A1, 25A2, 25O1, 25O2 – Individual is experiencing a mental health crisis (call code varies based on presence of suicidal ideation and first-party verification)

Request for CARE Team Response – Requested by Police, Fire, EMS to assist

Sick Person 26O19, 26A1 – First party caller reporting nervousness (26O19) OR non-priority complaints involving an unknown third party exhibiting nervousness (26A1)

Unsheltered Person – Person sleeping outside, homeless; refer to services/support Unwanted – Persons on property (non-residential), no report of crime, no prior trespass order, no scene safety issues. Response will be determined by ECD triage – level of conflict, safety, nature of property, etc.