A new drug and syringe drop-off program has been very successful when it comes to syringes, leading sheriff’s officials to suspect medical professionals may be using the boxes designed for residents.
The boxes were placed at nearly 20 sheriff’s stations throughout the county following the program’s unveiling Sept. 29. It’s meant to give residents a safe and anonymous way to dispose of unwanted syringes, prescription drugs and illegal drugs.
The mailbox-like boxes are at sheriff’s stations in Industry, Walnut, La Crescenta, Temple City, Pico Rivera and Norwalk.
Since the program began, nearly 32,000 syringes have been dropped off, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Often, officials find hundreds of the same type of syringe in the boxes, leading them to believe they’ve been left there by medical providers, he added.
The boxes are not meant for commercial use.
“We suspect the reason we’re getting so many needles is that hospitals or medical clinics may be dropping them off,” he said. “We can’t prove it, but we think the way it’s being packaged, it looks like it.”
Though there is no penalty for commercial medical companies dropping syringes in the boxes, he said, it was not the intended use and is creating a strain on the program.
“The deputies are pulling them (syringes) out and they’re getting poked,” he said, estimating it has occurred half a dozen times.
Though no infections have been reported because of needle pokes, “obviously we’re aware of it, and we’re concerned about it,” he said.
In addition to needles, the drop-off boxes have collected more than 1,200 pounds of unwanted prescription medications, Whitmore said.
The option to drop off illegal drugs has been less popular, with .87 grams of drugs — marijuana and methamphetamine — deposited in the boxes as of Feb. 13.
At the sheriff’s Temple Station, Lt. Tom McNeal said the drop boxes are being used by the community. In some cases, citizens bring in bags or boxes full of syringes to dispose of, he said.
“In our experience, we’ve been getting them from older folks who have been collecting them for years,” McNeal said. Now that they have a place to drop them off, he added, they’re taking advantage.
He said station officials were not aware of any medical companies using the boxes.
Whitmore said officials also want to remind people not to place syringes in the boxes labeled for drugs.
Sgt. Joe Van Damme of the sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station asked the public to be careful when using the boxes and to make sure syringes get into the appropriate box.
“If available, the cap for the syringe would be appreciated,” he said. “Our biggest concern is obviously the safety of the deputies and whoever’s going to be handling the syringes.”
The department now is looking at redesigning the boxes so that deputies can remove the contents without handling them, Whitmore added.
“Because it’s so successful, with the needles especially, we’re going to look for ways to protect the people who collect it,” he said.
Currently, officials from the sheriff’s Scientific Services Bureau picks up the contents of the boxes weekly and collect them in holding bins, Whitmore said. From there, they are picked up by a biohazard disposal contractor.
In a written statement, sheriff’s officials encouraged residents not to keep unneeded medication on hand, as it can fall into the hands of children or drug abusers.
Flushing drugs down the drain causes water pollution, as wastewater facilities cannot test or treat for pharmaceuticals.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Wednesday announced a new department policy for pursuing armed suspects.
Baca also announced that violent crime dropped more than 12 percent county-wide last year, and that crime decreased in the service areas of all San Gabriel Valley sheriff’s stations except Altadena.
Experts said Baca’s new policy on foot chases would lead to a decrease in deputy-involved shootings. The policy advises deputies that it may often be safer to chase an armed suspect for the purpose of trapping him or her in a search perimeter rather than always trying to immediately take a suspect into custody.
“We don’t want to have our deputies unnecessarily put themselves in harm’s way,” Baca said.
The wording of the mandate tells deputies to be “cautiously persistent.”
Baca said he wants deputies to consider all of their options when chasing after an armed suspect, such as calling for backup, calling for helicopter or dog, firing warning shots or using less-than-lethal weapons.
“We are talking about a very difficult part of policing,” Baca said.
Deciding whether or not to use deadly force is “a one- to two-second decision-making process,” he said, calling the task the “ultimate challenging decision of any deputy, period.”
Baca said he hopes the policy will make deputies less likely to shoot people.
“You don’t have to go barreling in in any case, and put yourself in a position where you have to use your gun,” he said.
Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review civilian oversight group, helped draft the language of the new policy.
Gennaco said the policy “allows for better decision-making, because you have time on your side.”
“I think it will increase deputy safety, reduce the use of deadly force and help change the culture,” Gennaco said. “Instead of chasing bad guys, what the department is trying to do is not let the suspect dictate the outcome but let deputies use tactics and resources to dictate the outcome.”
While Baca said the new policy was not in response to any specific deputy-involved shootings, Gennaco said he believed the change was likely triggered by community outrage over deputy-involved shootings of unarmed suspects in recent years.
In September of last year, Darrick Collins — a 26-year-old man who was not armed — was shot in the Athens neighborhood near South Los Angeles as sheriff’s deputies were pursuing him during an armed robbery investigation. His family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county.
There were 42 deputy-involved shootings in 2009 compared with 37 the previous year, sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.
Sixteen of last year’s deputy-involved shootings were fatal, she said. In 2008, nine were fatal.
The department had 40 deputy-involved shootings in 2007, 48 in 2006, 48 in 2005 and 57 in 2004, Nishida said.
In addition to announcing the new policy, Baca presented crime statistics showing a 12.36 percent decrease in violent crime county-wide between 2008 and 2009, as well as an 11.09 percent decrease in property crime.
Data revealed that every San Gabriel Valley sheriff’s station except Altadena showed a decrease in major crimes, such as homicide, robbery, rape, burglary and auto theft.
The sheriff’s Altadena Station handled 7.6 percent more Part I crimes in 2009 than the previous year, and 21.2 percent more than in 2004.
The increases were due to more reports of assaults, burglaries and arsons.
Major crimes dropped in 2009 by 7.5 percent at the Temple Station, 11.9 percent at the Industry Station, 17.6 percent at the Norwalk Station, 10 percent at the Pico Rivera Station, 0.7 percent at the San Dimas Station and 14.5 percent at the Walnut Station.
Other significant crime trends included a doubling of homicides handled by the Pico Rivera Station from four in 2008 to eight in 2009.
Rapes in San Dimas increased from 11 incidents in 2008 to 17 in 2009.
At the sheriff’s Industry Station, the only major crime showing an increase was arson, rising from 25 incidents in 2008 to 40 incidents last year.