Cleanup crews find more drug needles in EBR

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Baton Rouge cleanup crews are picking up more syringes, raising concerns.

It is more than trash getting dumped in bins around town.

“Well, we pick up hundreds of drug needles and syringes, we pick up bottles of medication,” says Jennifer Richardson, the president of Keep Tiger Town Beautiful. Richardson regularly hits the streets with other volunteers to pick up trash around East Baton Rouge. “I am thinking, this is an epidemic to see this, and the amount of people that are coming here to Baton Rouge,” adds Richardson.

Richardson, who has already lost a loved one to drug use, says she’s afraid these needles are an indication of a bigger problem in the City of Baton Rouge. “They need help, I want them to get help, that’s the thing,” explains Richardson.

The Bridge Center for Hope opens their doors to people in crisis, including addicts. Around 46% of the individuals that seek care there have a substance abuse problem. “So, we are absolutely have seen individuals who have issues with substance use, or have a substance use diagnosis. We have seen many individuals and providing services to those individuals has just been key to one of the services we provide,” says Shawne Emery who the Louisiana State Director of RI International.

Emery works with the Bridge Center. She says it is not always easy for people in throes of addiction to seek treatment. That is why East Baton Rouge Mayor’s Office established the Behavioral Health Homelessness Outreach Team to meet them halfway.

“They greet people, who are on the street to find out what brought them to do the street, what services do they need? They are also accompanied by social workers which are trained for mental health issues and substance abuse issues,” says Darryl Gissel who is the chief administrative officer for EBR.

The Mayor’s Office is working with an organization to provide housing assistance for the homeless, and if they need immediate resources like substance abuse, they want to put them with the right connections to get help.

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