Police Departments who consider joining Project Medicine Drop should be aware of the following requirements.
The Police Department
must:
- Bolt the Project Medicine Drop box to the floor and keep it locked at all times. Bolting the Drop Box to the floor must be performed by the Police Department; many departments worked with their city's Public Works Department on this.
- Ensure Police Department personnel are able to see the Drop Box at all times, either by direct line of sight or by cameras that are monitored by personnel.
- Make the Drop Box available to the public at all times, even if it is in an area that is locked after hours.1
- Empty the Drop Box at least as often as needed to prevent the Drop Box from becoming so full that it may be possible to reach in and remove items from the Drop Box.
- Send quarterly reports to the Division of Consumer Affairs, about the total weight in pounds of medications dropped into the Drop Box, and about the destruction of those medications.
- The Police Department is responsible for transporting the medications for ultimate destruction.
NOTE: Destruction can be done free of charge at one of four designated facilities. Therefore, the only potential cost to the Department is for the actual transportation to those facilities).
- The State Division of Consumer Affairs will provide the Box free of charge to the Police Department. The Drop Box will remain the property of the Division of Consumer Affairs.
If your Police Department would like to participate in Project Medicine Drop,
please contact Howard Pine at
PineH@dca.njoag.gov or Kathryn DeCataldo at
DeCataldoK@dca.njoag.gov.
1 An example is if the Drop Box is located in the Police Department's lobby, and the lobby is closed after hours or on weekends. If a resident wishes to drop medications into the Drop Box during off hours, the Department must arrange for on-call personnel to escort residents into and then out of the locked area, and ensure the resident is not left alone with the Drop Box.