Community Safety Department Publishes Inaugural Impact Report

The City of Cambridge’s Community Safety Department is proud to release its inaugural Impact Report, which provides an overview of the Department’s Community Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) Team’s response to 9-1-1 calls and community outreach in 2024. The report also features the mission, values and goals of the Department, a profile of the current team, background on the team’s training and development, community connections, success stories, and more.

In July 2024, the CARE Team began providing an unarmed civilian response to 9-1-1 calls for non-violent behavioral health crises. By the end of 2024, the CARE Team had responded to 208 crisis calls. Those calls do not include needle pickup responses that resulted in nearly 1,600 needles being safely removed from Cambridge streets and parks. Additionally, CARE Team members served nearly 160 community members via their crisis response efforts. Approximately 94% of their calls were resolved without the need for any police response.

The CARE Team also works with community members to provide case management and referrals. In 2024, the CARE Team served approximately 60 community members on an ongoing basis. Case management services include housing search, addressing food insecurity, eviction aid, emotional support, referrals to partner organizations and other basic need support and services. The CARE Team also cultivated strong relationships with local organizations, like the YWCA, First Step, Food for Free, Salvation Army and Christ Church Cambridge, to better support community members.

Details on the Department’s plans for 2025 are outlined in the report, including its expansion to responding to 9-1-1 calls five days a week as of March 2025.

Read the 2024 Community Safety Department Impact Report.

To learn more about the Community Safety Department, please visit www.cambridgesafety.org or email info@cambridgesafety.org. You can also subscribe to the Cambridge CARE Team monthly newsletter at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/tzfuwFQ.