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Caught on camera: Confrontation over drug use in local park near school

BOSTON — A Boston 25 News viewer sent us a disturbing video that appears to show a woman using heroin in a local park, right next to a school with children playing outside.

Ernst Jean-Jacques was on his way to volunteer before work Tuesday morning when he saw a woman shooting up in broad daylight while children played nearby.

"I normally would have minded my own business, because it's not my say, however, it was 8 a.m. and they were within 100 yards of children," said Jean-Jacques.

Several people have taken similar videos in recent months to bring awareness to the opioid epidemic in Boston. A few months ago, a father collected a bucket of needles near schools and weeks later captured a man overdosing in front of children at a park in Roxbury.

"All you have to do is drive up and down Mass Ave and it’s literally like the walking dead all day, and it’s not even like these people are hiding it, they’re openly shooting up, she was sitting down picnic style at 8 a.m.," Jean-Jacques said.

Boston 25 News reached out to the Mayor's Office about this problem to see what's actually being done. A spokesperson told us the Mayor's Office of Recovery has trained 400 custodians and parks and rec staff to sweep parks and schools of dirty needles every day. They've also trained more than 6,000 people in overdose prevention while distributing more than 18,000 Narcan kits last year.

The city says it's also referring thousands of people a year to treatment programs.

Still, people who live in these neighborhoods can't ignore the epidemic so they use social media as an awareness tool.

The city says, "Social media posts of public injection only drive families and individuals in need of services further away from care and do not have a place in the City's response to the opioid crisis."

The City of Boston has several programs in the works to tackle the opioid epidemic.

People can also call the Mobile Sharps Team to properly dispose of any syringes. If you see any, you can reach out to them by calling 311.

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