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Julie Johnson became a cop “to help people” — and has found one way to do that without having to lock anyone up.
Johnson, a New Haven police lieutenant with 18 years on the force, put together a “drop box” program at 1 Union Ave. headquarters. Anyone can come in to the front lobby and deposit unused medicines there — rather than leaving them at home where kids (or other people) can find them and abuse or mistakenly use them; rather than flushing them down the toilet, where they will then pollute the water system.
“Got drugs?” a sign on the box asks visitors to the police department. If so, visitors can deposit medications in the box, no questions asked, no paperwork to fill out.
The Greater Valley Substance Abuse Action Council, at an event on Oct. 1, gave Johnson a “community champion” award for creating the program, which took effect May 2013 and continues today.
“Medication drop boxes enable us to destroy medication that can be easily misused or diverted, in addition, it is more cost effective than hosting drug take back events,” the organization wrote in the event booklet. “The boxes are important to keeping medications out of the hands of youth and people
who might misuse them or take them by mistake, but also to help safeguard our water supply by preventing drugs and chemicals from leaching into it.”
The organization also put Johnson’s face on a Wheaties box. (She’s pictured above holding the box along with Assistant Chief Al Vazquez.)
Johnson was moved by receiving the award.
“One of the reasons I became a police officer was to help people — not just to lock them up,” she said.