City Council - Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee Hearing on Docket #0167

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For the record, my name is Henry Santana, at-large city councilor, and I am the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice. Today is March 12, 2026, and the exact time is 9.35 a.m. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being livestreamed at boston.gov slash city-council-tv and broadcasted on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and Files Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.ps at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all Councillors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing. individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually,

Please email our central staff liaison megan at megan.coruto at boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket number 0167. ordered for a hearing to discuss progress and opportunities for addressing drinks, biking, and drug-facilitated sexual assault. This matter was sponsored by Councilor Gabriela Coleta Zapata, and was referred to the committee on January 28th, 2026. Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, Councilor Ed Flynn, Councilor Erin Murphy, and Councilor Coletta Zapata. We've also received a letter of absence from Councilor Pepén. I will allow

Coletta Zapata, and my colleagues to give opening remarks, and I'll give a few opening remarks, and then we'll go to a first round of public testimony first, actually, today. I misspoke earlier, and then we'll go into panel discussion. So, Councilor Coletta Zapata, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, for holding today's hearing. And I want to thank my colleagues for being here as well to discuss this important issue ahead of a really important weekend here in Boston. I want to extend my gratitude to the administration officials who are here. Thank you so much, Boston Police. Members of the BPHC, advocates, and members of the public who are here to share their expertise and experiences. As Boston heads into St. Patrick's Day celebrations, one of the busiest weekends for nightlife in our city, we want to be able to go out, celebrate, and have a great time safely. The vast majority of people will and we know Boston is safe. But we also know that drink spiking has been a concern in this city over the last several years which is why this conversation is so important. Public safety means making sure people in our city can enjoy without worrying that their drink could be tampered with. Since 2022, Boston has seen dozens of reported incidents of suspected drink spiking each year.

116 reports in 2022, 107 in 2023, and 71 and I hope to get updated numbers during this hearing. While those numbers have gone down, experts believe that many cases go unreported. One of the biggest challenges is that substances commonly used in drink spiking, like rehypnol, commonly referred to as roofies, as well as GHB, or ketamine, metabolize quickly. That means by the time someone realizes something is wrong and seeks help, it can be difficult to collect evidence or to confirm what happened. Over the past few years, the city has taken steps to respond. My office has worked with the Boston Police Department to improve how these incidents are tracked and investigated through the Mark 43 system, including updating internal reporting systems and expanding officer training.

We've also partnered with the licensing board and the Office of Nightlife Economy to work with bars and venues across the city to distribute drink covers and expanding safety training for nightlife staff. We also know there are still gaps. Survivors can face barriers when trying to access timely toxicology testing, and there isn't always a clear protocol for how suspected drink spiking cases should be handled. Today's hearing is an opportunity to better understand the current landscape, identify challenges that remain, and explore what additional steps Boston can take to strengthen prevention efforts and survivor support. My hope today is that today's discussion helps us identify practical steps that the city can take moving forward. Ultimately, the goal is simple. People should be able to enjoy Boston's nightlife safely. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from our panelists. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Coletta Zapata. I'm actually going to go to Councilor Murphy, who was here first. So, Councilor Murphy, you have the floor, and then I'll go to Councilor Flynn.

I know Councilor Flynn's always first. He throws people off when I get here before him. Thank you, Chair, for holding this. And I know this is something we've come together for before and an issue I'm glad we're like getting updates and seeing the progress that we've been working on since the last time we met and Kim I know we spoke briefly before this hearing but looking forward to you have some updates in this new role which was kind of new last year now in a year now so looking forward just to hearing from the panel seeing what more we can do on the council to support this because like it was said we want to make sure that people have fun but feel safe when they're out there and know what Supports if needed if something like this happens to them, so thank you chair Thank You councillor Murphy councillor Flynn you have the floor Thank You mr.

Chair Drink spiking occurs when a person deliberately puts alcohol or drugs into someone else's drink without their knowledge or permission. These drugs can include roofies, GHB, or other drugs. Instances of Drink spiking can occur at bars, pubs, nightclubs, even private houses or parties. Physical symptoms of spiking can include confusion, nausea, and vomiting. Loss of effective communication memory loss. If someone suspects they or someone else has been spiked, it is critical to tell the establishment's manager or party host and seek medical attention. Last year I sponsored a unanimous resolution in support of expanding prevention public awareness campaign regarding drink spiking.

This is one of the issues I've worked on for eight years, including making major improvements at the Boston Police Crime Lab, I think is also part of the conversation. I worked on this issue as a probation officer at Suffolk Superior Court for eight years. But I live in a neighborhood where there's a lot of young people, young women, a lot of restaurants and bars off of West Broadway. I am concerned about this. I don't think we take this issue as seriously as we should. I think we need more oversight from the city of Boston as it relates to restaurants and bars and we must have zero tolerance for any type of criminal activity such as spiking someone's drink. This is an issue I've been meeting on monthly with the Boston Police and

With community people going into the South Boston parade, because I know it's an issue in my neighborhood, I'm not going to deny it's not an issue, so I'm going to do everything I possibly can to... support what the city is doing on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councillor Flynn. And as the chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, I'm acutely aware of the threats that drink spiking and sexual violence pose to our residents. especially when it relates to drug facilitated sexual assaults. We must ensure that our city honors survivors by applying best practices, ensuring timely evidence collection, and emphasizing prevention. With strong interagency coordination and standardized protocols following reports, we can better protect our survivors both immediately after drug spiking or drug-facilitated sexual assault and in the long term. Women and gender minorities are at an increased risk of sexual violence and the perpetrators of this violence are overwhelmingly males. While this hearing is on prevention and response to drug-facilitated sexual assault, I want to take this time to bring light to the systematic issues.

The broader issues particularly and the normalization of violence against women and gender minorities which underline many of these crimes. I look forward to learning how we can better protect survivors of drink spiking and drug facilitated sexual assaults from our panelists and throughout public testimony. So before we go to our panel, I really appreciate you all being here. We are going to take public testimony. We're going to take three, starting with I think you're going to read Senator Paul Feeney's letter to the record. Okay. and then we have two also, we have Jessica S. and Ilana Katz-Katz. If you all could come to the podium in the back here and you will be given the opportunity to testify.

Right up to this one.

Come up and state your name and then you can give your testimony.

My name is Ilana Katz-Katz and I was drugged in late 2022 at age 56, ended up in the ER at Mass General where I was refused a toxicology screen because I hadn't been raped. I'm grateful I wasn't, but a victim should not have to experience the worst case scenario to receive basic medical evidence collection. Roofies are an epidemic. Since May 2022, A single Boston Facebook group with more than 19,000 members dedicated solely to drink safety, tracking druggings, and sexual assaults at more than 100 Boston-area I'm here because there is a dangerous disconnect between the city's rhetoric on safety and the reliability The reality on the ground.

While Mayor Wu authorized 225 liquor licenses in landmark legislation, which she boasted, and I quote, introduced the most liquor licenses to Boston since prohibition, her nightlife director, Corrine Reynolds, who is responsible partially for safety policies, has failed to back that growth with protection. Despite her claiming safety is a, quote, high priority, not a single of the 42 grants publicly listed on her $300,000 opera budget was allocated to victim safety. Instead of protecting patrons and operators, she funded ice cream socials, a trike called Funk Fest, Blair Bitch Product, and more, all listed online. Safety must come first. Rather than showboating about liquor licenses and where you can eat late at night and get alcohol, how about showing tangible efforts to prevent this life-ruining crime? The city claims they have distributed 30,000 drink lids Where are they? I live in Boston, go out often, have never seen one.

Frustrated with the lack of publicly available data, I filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests through an attorney on August 21st, 2025. Legally, the city has 20 working days to comply. It has been 136 federal calendar working days. The city has missed every deadline, refusing to even provide an estimated completion date. If the city is truly committed to safety, why the stonewalling? I have copies of the FOIA request right here, which I will leave here. and for anyone who wants, I'm not a politician, I'm a citizen who helps shatter victims who are afraid to come forward. I made my own public service announcement videos because the city wouldn't. We cannot let the nightlife economy above the safety of the people who sustain it. Any one of you could be drugged today via a glass of water, coffee, wine. Your teenage daughter, your son, your mother, your father, nobody's immune. Stop the showboating. Stop the lip service.

It's time for concrete, tangible safety measures and total transparency. I thank you all for your attention to this. I will leave these here for anyone who wants. Thank you so much for your time and I urge you to be safe.

Thank you Alana for your testimony. Next up we have Jessica S.

My name is Jessica and I'm speaking today as a private citizen from personal experience, not in any professional capacity or on behalf of any organization. Three years ago, I was drugged and raped by someone I met through a dating app. I reported the incident to the police but the assistant district attorney who handled my case told me that what happened to me does not meet the legal definition of rape in Massachusetts because our laws do not consider consent and because I wasn't fearing for my life due to the violence I faced at the hands of the man who hurt me. There's so many things I wish I could share with this committee, but the point I want to emphasize with respect to prevention is that these drugs impair judgment and cognitive functioning. They make it difficult to think clearly and perceive danger. There was a moment that night, before the assaults, when I was disoriented and vomiting in a public restroom, barely able to speak or stand, when the voice of a stranger asked me if I needed help,

And I said no, not because I didn't need it, but because I could not consciously grasp the danger that I was in. I remember feeling afraid, but not of him, not yet. I did not understand his role in what was unfolding. But with the benefit of hindsight, I wish that kind stranger had ignored what I said and called 911 anyway. There are different ways to respond to injustice. You can brush it off, search for answers, try to find a scapegoat to blame, But a pattern tells a story, and when perpetrators of drinks, biking, and rape are repeatedly able to evade any form of accountability in our state, we have to ask why, just as this committee is doing today. I'm only one survivor with one unique experience and I cannot offer solutions.

I can only point to gaps my experience revealed. I hope the committee will also hear from people with relevant professional expertise. doctors and bartenders, police detectives and prosecutors, restaurant managers and toxicologists. They have important insights to offer and they deserve to be heard just as we do. Thank you for hearing my testimony.

Thank you, Jessica. We're going to continue with public testimony. We have two other people who are signed up. Please excuse my pronunciation. I think we have Neve Palmieri and Kara Blue. And then we're going to go into our panel discussion today.

Hi, my name is Ned Palmieri, and I'm a junior at Providence College. And for the past two years, I've been working to combat drink spiking through both the development of a detection device and advocacy within college communities. One of the most concerning realities of drink spiking is the underreporting of these crimes. Drink spiking often exists in a gray area where victims suspect their drink was tampered with but have no way to confirm it. Through my research, I've spoken with many university officials who often say they have never had a drink spiking incident on their campus. But the question is, how would they know when the victims themselves often have no way of knowing? As a student, many classmates have shared stories with me about suspected drink spiking. Most never reported the incident to their school, the police, or went to a hospital. And when asked why, many said they didn't see the point. So I pose a question to you. What is the point? The point is accountability.

The point is clarity. And most importantly, the point is prevention. In today's world, data often determines how and if institutions allocate resources Shade policies and set priorities simply because data surrounding this crime is more difficult to track than most does not mean institutions nor public safety officials would be right to deny its existence and fail to protect those in their community Thank you. Preventing drink spiking requires a systematic response, one that includes testing availability, most importantly, standardized reporting procedures, and collaborations between universities, hospitals, and law enforcement. So the point of this conversation and the point of my work for the last two years, including policy discussions, research, and innovation in this space, is simple. to make the invisible visible and to ensure that no student is left without answers. Thank you.

Thank you. So we have Cara Blue.

Good morning. My name is Kara Blue and I'm the Senior Director of External Relations at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, also known as BARC. BARC has supported thousands of survivors during our 50 plus years in service. What we know about sexual violence is that the vast majority of survivors know their perpetrator. What we also know when talking about drink spiking or using alcohol to facilitate sexual violence is that this happens in bars as well as homes and other private settings. The conversation about drink spiking in our city usually lands on many considerations around bars and clubs and how potential victims should be using drink covers and testing strips and other means to protect their drinks. While these actions are one piece of the prevention puzzle, treating spiking solely as a policing or nightlife security issue misses the mark on what we're actually talking about. When the primary advice is don't go to this bar or be sure to test your drink, we are subtly telling survivors that safety is their personal burden to carry. This reinforces a dangerous victim-blaming narrative.

We don't solve community harm by asking survivors to be more hypervigilant. We solve it through collective accountability and robust support systems. At BARC, we know that alcohol is the most commonly used substance used to facilitate sexual assault and that drink spiking is not new. BARC focuses on the community's role in prevention, the role of bars and clubs, their staff, the training that they should be receiving, and the many ways that we as a community can do a better job of watching out for one another. We are asking the City of Boston to expand the lens of enforcement and look at it through a lens of public health we need the city to invest in public health through community health workers medical advocates bystander intervention training and education resources for hospitality workers let's invest in a city where the response to harm is care and not a checklist of things that the survivors should have done differently. I want to end by stating that if someone you know has had this experience, BARC is here as a resource.

We encourage you to call our hotline 800-841-8371 to talk through options. We stand ready to work with the City to ensure that we are all standing up to support survivors.

Thank you so much. We appreciate those who came and shared their stories with us today. We're now going to move forward with our panel. I'm going to introduce today's panelists. With us today we have Kim Mendoza Arihita, Director of Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative with the Boston Public Health Commission. We have Captain Detective Terry Thomas, with the Bureau of Investigative Services, Commander of the Family Justice Division with the Boston Police Department. We have Lieutenant Detective Jose Teixeira, Commander of the Sexual Assault Unit with the Boston Police Department. We have Kathleen Joyce, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing and Share Women Licensing Board with the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. And we also have Corrine Reynolds, who is

The Director of Nightlife Economy with the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. So really appreciate you all being here. We obviously just got grounded in some public testimony. If we can actually I don't know what order y'all want to go to, but if you can just state your names and titles for the record and provide your testimony for today. Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, Chair. Members of the Council, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Regarding concerns about drink spiking in Boston, my name is Kim Mendoza Iraeta. I serve as the Director of the Domestic Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative within the Office of Violence Prevention at the Boston Public Health Commission. I'm just going to call it the DSG for short. It's a very long program to me. Today, I'm here to share my professional, my public health perspective. and what the research tells us about drink spiking and drug-facilitated sexual assault. As counselors have said before, drink spiking occurs when someone intentionally adds alcohol or drugs to another person's drink without their knowledge or consent. At its core, drink spiking removes a person's ability to make informed decisions about what they consume and what's happening around them.

While the term drink spiking focuses on beverages, it is important to recognize that drugging someone without their consent can occur across multiple forms of consumption such as adding drugs to food, adding unknown drugs to other substances that are being knowingly ingested like cannabis. The underlying issue is the same. Someone's autonomy and ability to consent is being violated. Research clearly shows that drink spiking and drug facilitated sexual assault are real and it is harmful. Survivors experience serious physical and psychological consequences because of it, and we must take those seriously. And at the same time, it is challenging to conclusively determine the full scale and scope of the issue. There are significant limitations in toxicological confirmation. Many drugs associated with drink spiking have very short detection windows. Some may leave the system within hours.

In addition, there are many substances that could be used and routine hospital panels are not able to test for every single possible substance. As a result, a negative test does not conclusively mean that someone was not drugged. As Nathan Brewer, Director of the Survivor Advocacy Response and Prevention Center at Boston University explains, one of the biggest challenges we run into is that the person who suspects a spiked drink will want to know conclusively if they've been drugged. However, this is exceedingly difficult to confirm. The drugs used often have a very short half-life. Many different substances can be used, and in Boston, most emergency departments will not conduct spike drink testing unless it is a part of a formal Sane Examination. Even then, a negative result does not conclusively mean that the person was not drugged. It may simply mean that the substance was no longer detectable or not included in the testing panel. This means survivors can often leave medical settings without clear answers and that uncertainly can compound trauma.

I want to commend my fellow departments for their efforts on this issue, which you'll be hearing more about in a moment. Individual risk reduction tools such as drink covers, test kits, advice like What's Your Drink? It can be part of the prevention puzzle, however these strategies are most effective when it is paired with psychoeducation. which combines elements of cognitive behavior therapy, group therapy, education, community accountability, prevention strategies that think about more upstream, that address perpetration, That's why it's so important that the departments here today are working together using different approaches to accomplish the goal of preventing drink spiking and sexual assault. At BPHC, we focus on upstream prevention approaches.

For example, our teen dating violence prevention program, Start Strong, supports young people in developing healthy relationships, understanding consent, building healthy social norms around boundaries. Prevention requires strong partnerships. At BPHC, we work closely with domestic and sexual violence programs such as BARC, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and internal partners like BPD to better understand what are those emerging trends that folks are seeing on the ground to strengthen referral networks, ensure survivors have the care that they need and they want. Boston's response must reflect both scientific evidence and survivor-centered care. We can address community concerns without contributing to panic and we can strengthen safety systems without shifting responsibility to the victims. Thank you and I welcome your questions.

Awesome. Thank you. I just want to pause and say that we've been joined by Councilor Sharon Durkan. Director, do you want to go next?

I think I'm having a little... I'm back. Sorry about that. My name is Terry Thomas. I'm a cabin detective over at the commander of the FJC, Family Justice Center. Some of the investigative units that we have over there is the sexual assault unit, domestic violence unit, human trafficking, and crimes against children. With me today is Lieutenant Detective Jose Texera. He's the commander of the sexual assault unit. Stop by thanking the City Council for including us in this hearing, and I'll share some related statistics. Over the past three years, there have been approximately 266 drink spiking incidents reported. During that time, there have been 25 drug facilitated sexual assaults reported. We continue to see cases involving drink spiking and drug facilitated sexual assaults. These incidents are certainly a priority and an issue that we expect will continue.

That being said, we've taken steps to maximize our impact on addressing the problem. There are several areas that we focus on. Training, tracking, public awareness, and partnerships. Our training consists of several different things. We provide presentations at the Boston Police Academy for recruit training officers. We have promotional candidate training and then our annual in-service training to highlight this issue. We've disseminated training bulletins throughout the Boston Police Department. Both presentations and bulletins provide officers with information to help them recognize and illustrate best practices for documenting incidents. In particular, there are specific phrases and terms that may include the involvement of a drug as opposed to alcohol that should be included in a report. The training is also useful to investigators who are assigned these incidents. We highlight circumstances that may indicate that somebody may have had their drink spiked.

Examples may be victims get separated from friends, suspect offering to help a victim locate to friends or assist with a ride, The victim leaves their drink unattended. A suspect is in a rush to leave the bar following having a drink. There are also clues with cell phone activity following some of these reported incidents. Has a phone been disabled? Has the ID been changed? Has any money been transferred from any accounts? Another important piece is the tracking incident. Our reporting system, the Mark 43, has an event statistic box. It's a contaminated drink that officers can check when completing an incident report relating to this. This was implemented in 2023. This flags the incident and allows for tracking events and help ensure that reports are shared with specialized units. At the FJC, we have a Boston Regional Intelligence Center analyst who tracks these events.

This assists in identifying potential patterns and persons of interest. Public awareness is also pivotal. BPD Media Relations is extremely active. They issue awareness advisories prior to large events involving alcohol, provide notifications when appropriate, They are very active on social media, constantly sharing information relative to this. An excellent point I read in the Senate docket illustrating how important the education piece is. Most people don't know how to proceed and the resources that are available to victims. As proposed, having one portal hotline that would streamline things and allow all victims to access needed resources. Perhaps the messaging in the license premises advising to call 911 and to share that hotline number. Finally, the maintaining partnerships outside of the BPD is paramount to success.

Our license premise unit works hand in hand with the City of Boston Licensing Board on a daily basis. It's also imperative to have close relationships with our non-government organizations who have the expertise to support victims. They are invaluable to us. We have an advocate at the Family Justice Center who can assist and coordinate resources with these service providers. We also have excellent relationships with the local colleges and we share information and messaging with students. Unfortunately, there are law enforcement barriers that inhibit investigations and potential criminal prosecution. Delayed reporting of incidents, user error on reporting incidents as in specific facts or observation that have been omitted from police reports, Law enforcement are not experts who can definitively determine whether a drink is a spiking drug or inhibitor.

Therefore, toxicology testing is a necessity and should be done as soon as possible. Hospitals vary on whether they can provide these toxicology testing to victims. Investigators can only access toxicology results if the victims share the results with us following. Drink spiking can result in memory loss, as discussed, and this can be confusing, embarrassing, and frustrating to victim survivors, which may discourage them from wanting to speak with detectives. So, in conclusion, thank you again. and if there are any questions or you have any suggestions as to how we can proceed please let me know. Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning. Thank you. My name is Kathleen Joyce and I'm chair of the Boston Licensing Board. Hopefully you can hear me. Thank you for this opportunity to speak today about the issue of drink spiking and thank you for the public testimony. It's very important for us to hear that. The Boston Licensing Board takes any report of a drink spiking incident extremely seriously. Our goal every day is to keep every single patron safe in our Boston bars. We work closely with the Boston Police Department's Licensed Premise Unit to investigate any such incident at a licensed premise establishment, and we work closely with our nightlife manager to educate the public and work with our bars and clubs. I do believe a lot of these cases are unreported. Often, the suspected cases that come to us are after a walk-in report at a police station. What we are seeing is that in many cases, the suspected substance in a drink spiking incident

Metabolize is quickly, which can make these cases difficult to substantiate. Victims may also understandably be reluctant to participate in any investigation. But regardless of those challenges, we take these reports very seriously. Even in situations where the evidence does not ultimately establish that a drink was spiked or that a violation occurred, the licensing board will still bring the matter forward for a public hearing because our role is not only enforcement, It's also working with licensees to ensure that every patron in Boston's nightlife establishments are safe. We want to reinforce expectations for license holders and allow us to publicly discuss the steps establishments should take to protect their patrons. Safety begins with awareness, awareness among staff who are trained to recognize suspicious behavior, awareness among licensees about their responsibility to maintain safe environments, and awareness among patrons themselves.

In addition to the licensed premise unit, they make themselves available to licensees to provide on-site guidance and to train establishments on safety practices, reporting protocols, and how to respond if a suspected incident occurs. Even when incidents cannot ultimately be substantiated, bringing them into the open through investigation and public discussion encourages establishments to adopt stronger safety practices. We'll continue to work with the Boston Police Department The Mayor's Office of Nightlife Economy and our licensees to investigate suspected incidents promptly and to ensure establishments remain vigilant to protecting the safety of our patrons. I'm here to answer any questions and happy to Listen to any advice you have for us.

Good morning Chair. and the members of City Council, my name is Corrine Reynolds and I serve as the Director of Nightlife Economy within the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. Our office is focused on ensuring that Boston's nightlife is not only vibrant but safe and welcoming for everyone who participates in it. That's the workers, the operators and the patrons alike. A core part of this work is collaboration We work closely with venue owners, public safety agencies, public health professionals, advocates, workers across the nighttime economy to identify challenges and implement proactive solutions. One example of this work is Knight U, which stands for the Knight Industries Training and Education, a new initiative that connects nightlife workers to practical training and safety resources. Through partnerships with organizations like Brigham and Women's, Hospital, Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation.

We have already begun offering trainings such as Stop the Bleed. We are expecting to include CPR and other safety-focused programs in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission and Boston EMS. Preventing drink spiking is another important part of the safety ecosystem. In fall and winter of 2024, in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing and the Small Business Office, our office distributed 33,000 drink spiking prevention covers to 40 Boston bars and nightclubs as a simple but effective proactive tool for patrons. In 2026, we will distribute 100,000 additional covers and host drink spiking prevention trainings for nightlife staff. In fact, we will be distributing covers tonight in South Boston at the parade safety meeting hosted by MoCal and BPD. Additionally, the city, in partnership with BPD, has documents outlining best practices

for creating safe environments in licensed premises. That's a document that's been shared widely for many years now. These efforts reflect our broader approach Supporting operators with the tools, training and partnerships they need to keep people safe while sustaining a thriving nighttime economy. When safety is prioritized, everyone benefits. Workers feel supported, patrons feel confident in going out, and businesses can continue to contribute to Boston's cultural and economic vitality. Thank you for the opportunity to share our work and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with the council on strengthening safety across Boston's nightlife.

Again, just Lieutenant Detective Jose Teixeira, just the commander of the Sexual Assault Unit. As the Captain said, we constantly monitor The cases that do come in through sexual assault that have drink spiking associated with it, but obviously having an analyst who's there on a daily basis, whether the officers check the box on Mark 43, And there are also a lot of reports that they don't, which she's constantly just monitoring keywords in it that we get and we're in collaboration with the different district detectives who handle those cases just to make sure that they're also aware of it.

Awesome. Thank you so much. And again, thank you to our panelists for being here. We've been also joined by Councillor Culpepper and Councillor Louijeune. I'm now going to go to the first round of questions from my colleagues. I'm going to give six minutes. roughly about six minutes per person. We're going to go order of arrival, but we're going to start with the lead sponsor, Councilor Coletta Zapata. You have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. I just first want to thank the individuals who came today, took time out of their day for their public testimony. It takes a lot to be here to talk about your story. So I just want to say thank you for your courage and for your bravery and rooting us into why talking about this is so important. I think I want to be clear that the burden of prevention should never fall on victims. That's why we need to be focused on preventing these incidents in the first place and ensuring people have a clear pathway for care and support in the event that something happens. I do just also want to call out and thank Senator Paul Feeney for his dogged efforts in the state legislature for pushing a Senate bill called an act safeguarding victims of illicit drink spiking. Just this week, the bill reached a major milestone in the legislative process. The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing has recommended that the legislation ought to pass as written. And what this bill does, and I will try to

I know my time is limited, but the bill addresses the alarming prevalence of illicit drink-spiking incidents across the Commonwealth by establishing a comprehensive framework for response by our health care system. The bill creates an illicit drink spiking response and innovation task force with the DPH to study and recommend regulations for a uniform standard of care for patients following an illicit drink spiking incident. Second, the bill enables DPH to require all hospitals to issue an evidence-based testing sample to test for the presence of a substance used in illicit drink spiking, regardless of whether or not a sexual assault has occurred. So this is going to be in the record if folks want more information. Again, that bill is Senate Bill 1537. So thank you to Senator Paul Feeney. So I'll go to the BPD first just for some more information and thank you so much for your work.

Are there any hot spots in the city that you can talk about that we should be aware of? And are there protocols for identifying repeat locations or patterns across venues? and when a drink spiking report is filed, can you just let us know what the full investigative process from initial report to case closure looks like?

There's nothing in particular The information that we have, it's primarily in a licensed premise as opposed to private residence. Again, of those, I'm not exactly sure of the number, but it's significantly higher with the licensed premises. There isn't a particular location of concern with regard to that. From a reporting standpoint or investigative standpoint, it initiates at However, whether we get called to the scene or a lot of times, unfortunately, it is reported a day or two later. It does get assigned to a detective licensing unit. They're aware the licensed premise unit. Chair of the Board of Directors.

As far as what we do with that, it's reaching out to victims and survivors and trying to get information. It's very difficult investigatively if we don't have those toxicology results to proceed criminally. I hate to say that that's an issue, but that's a reality. And unfortunately, there are times where they're not proceeding with criminal investigations based on different things, but We're reaching out and again we have we're trying to track as well so if we do identify any repeat offenders most recently I think on social media and There was some information brought forward. Our media relations was involved in that. We did investigate our human trafficking. It was aware of They sent out a bulletin, an information bulletin through our brick. And that was shared among the department.

And somebody looked and notified and identified this individual. When we investigated, it was somebody that came up previously in years past that had some suspect activity. So what we do is we'll take that further. As of right now, basically just kind of monitor that person and try to almost, they refer to it as kind of a day in the life and kind of follow that person, see what activity they're doing. If there's anything that we can take, there'll be communication with the DA's office Anything criminal, we can go from there.

Thank you so much. And I have seen that social media post, and so I'm grateful that there's action being taken on that. monitoring that individual and then if anything were to happen further it would be referred to the DA's office. And you had mentioned something to the effect of that it's really hard to move forward criminally without that toxicology report. And we've heard from folks that there is no standard, there is no protocol when they go to an emergency room. Many emergency rooms do not have these sort of these test The Assess Available, which hopefully this legislation will change. Is there anything else that you can go on beyond the toxicology reports? Any behaviors, any eyewitnesses, things that you usually follow up on in the event that you don't have a toxicology report?

Yes, we can always, with just observations, again, the training piece of... of Recording, different things. It can all be kind of circumstantial stuff that we can build. Interviews with victims, with even suspects if something came down We've done that as well. There's been accusations of this. So there are ways, like anything else, just having that evidence It makes things very, very much easier. But no, we can still continue an investigation without that.

Thank you. I know my time is up. I do have questions, but I want to be respectful to my colleagues. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Culetta Zapata. I'm going to do something. I know Councilor Culpepper does have to go. I'm going to allow a brief statement from you, Councilor, and then we're going to go. Thank you, Councilor Murphy. I'm going to go to Councilor Murphy next. So, Councilor Culpepper, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair Santana, for holding this hearing, and thank you to Councilors Zapata and Durkan for sponsoring this important discussion. Reports of suspected drink spiking and drug Facilitators, sexual assault continue to raise serious concerns in Boston's nightline spaces. It's critical that the city respond with a coordinated survivor-centered approach. I read the letter from Senator Feeney and I looked at some of the questions that he raised with regard to the legislation that is in the Senate. And I really think In terms of public awareness that we make every effort that we can to make sure the public is aware of how serious this is and how it could happen to anyone. And so I thank you for coming this morning.

I'm not going to be able to hear your presentations any further. I did hear what you said. I have to run to a funeral. I've got some questions, but I'll submit them to each of you in writing. Thank you for being here. Thank you for holding this significant and important hearing, Councilmember Santana, Zapata, and Durkan. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Culpepper. And feel free to send those questions also to the committee. We'll be happy to follow up. Murphy, you have the floor.

Thank you. There's many positive things having a reverend as a counselor now, but one of them is that he'll be going to many funerals, I think. So thank you. It's good to be there for family. So... Thank you for your testimony, but I do want to thank the brave women who spoke and continue to speak up, obviously not just for yourself, because you want to support Those before you and those who we know unfortunately will come after you and I mean lots of things I was already thinking but just kind of more frustrated about I'll just start with like the drink covers and I don't drink, I don't go to bars that often, but I've never seen anyone hold what I would consider a kiddie cup with a cap. So do we have data?

I mean now we're going to hand out a hundred thousand how many times and in bars did we collect data on how often they're used and maybe any of you out maybe in bars more for Either personal or professional reasons, do you see them being used? I've never once seen one being used across the city.

Um, exact data we can get back to you. It's more anecdotal. We go to bars, they offer them, they, they make, they go to a patron and They can say, hey, do you want this? Or a patron can come and say, hey, do you have one of these? Can we put it on? Can I utilize it on my cup?

Is there a way for patrons to know? Is there signs up at bars?

At the moment we do not have signs. The signs will be accompanied with a new batch of them. So the first batch was kind of like a pilot case to see if there was a need and see if bars could get used to using it and now it'll be more Coordinated, rolled out.

Okay. I mean, obviously, you do have to take responsibility for your own safety, but at the same time, I think it's kind of buying into that the victim needs to continue to Thank you. If you tell the hospital that you don't believe you've been raped, they will not do the toxicology test? Is that true? If you're unconscious or blacked out, how do you know if you've been raped or not?

We've had some reports that come in where victims have said that they were denied a toxic because they said they weren't assaulted.

Right. I mean, our public testimony right here told us that. So what advice or what policy changes do we want to make so that it's not on, I mean, because for many reasons a woman might say no. One, she doesn't remember. Two, she's embarrassed maybe. and many times it's like the third especially. I mean, we're fortunate to be in a city where our hospitals, our colleges, where there's a lot of students, right? Many of us know that that means three, four, five times someone else comes in and asks you to repeat the exact same thing over and over. And I bet, Kim, is that something that you hear that? You can have one visit at the hospital and you can have five, six different people walk in and ask you to repeat the same traumatic thing over and over again. For no reason other than it's just someone new walking in.

Can I? Yeah, please. So, well, I also want to echo thank you to the folks in the public, Jessica and Elena, for your testimonies. I think when I think it takes a lot of bravery to talk about your story and also it is sometimes something that folks just are not comfortable ever doing right and I think to your point of you know being able to go to to a stranger and let them know that something so violating happened to you and your body and you might not know if it happened or not. I will speak on, so I had a conversation, I think I spoke about Nathan Brewer, who is the director of the SARP program in BU, and something that he mentioned was that

He about like a year ago, he called the hospitals because there is what he was noticing on the ground from supporting students at the campus was that they were coming forward about drugging incidents. But they weren't unsure or they were saying sexual assault was not part of this. They wanted to get tested. So he called around all the Boston area hospitals and they said that they do not do testing outside of the same kids. He also said that he wanted to He wanted a caution over sort of over only focusing on on just testing, because the psychoeducation that goes along with it, and I think to the public testimony from the BARC, from Cara,

that mentioned how we can invest in community health workers and medical advocates that can do that psychoeducation With someone who's coming into the hospitals to ask for testing because that sort of that support, that emotional support for someone that's coming in to explain to them, even if you do test, It might come out negative, but that doesn't mean that your experience is invalid or that it didn't happen to you. I do know that the research is And from the literature that I was able to see, there are consistent themes that come out. The first, right, is that alcohol itself remains the most commonly detected intoxicant in reported cases of suspected drink spiking. and again, right, it's like that catch 22 because most often than not, the drugs may be out of the system already but the alcohol stays in longer, right?

So, you know, I'll sort of asterisk that in terms of research. and when we sort of shift away from what did the survivor or the victim, what did they test, did they have the covers, did they, you know, all of these, sort of again focuses on what the victim should be doing. It's very similar to don't walk alone outside. Make sure you bring a pepper spray or like a rape whistle, right? It's like when we focus on that, It can sort of miss a whole scope of things. So another sort of research theme that we saw was that when they were looking at individuals who admitted to spiking drinks, which they gathered from folks who had been arrested or found to have spiked drinks. They've done an anonymous survey to see like have you ever put a drug into someone's drink or Food and or like a substance they thought they were taking cannabis, but then you put something extra in it, right? So they ask these questions.

In one study, 43% of people who drugged others reported that they did it for fun. That they did it to see what would happen, that they did it to sort of relax or relax the person and Even if we take out the sexual assault motivation, because often when we're thinking about drugs like the big three that you mentioned, the GHB, the ketamine, the rehypnol, we've sort of associated those three specific big three drugs with like it equals sexual assault and that isn't what the sort of research shows that it's not just these three big, right, these three big druggings, it is also

Benadryl. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and many more. And I think that strengthening the pathways to get someone tested is absolutely still needed because that's what folks on the ground are seeing that folks are requesting and not getting it. But I think the last thing I'll say When the third theme we're seeing in the research, it shows that frequently, most consistently, survivors know who is the perpetrator.

and most frequently they occur in private settings, not in public settings or public venues like nightlife. Drink spiking is often talked about or associated with nightlife involving strangers, but the research shows it's actually a lot more complex than that. and so prevention efforts when we think about how we are changing social norms. I think one of them, someone mentioned the sort of gender imbalances. I think it was you, Councilor Santana mentioned This is sort of a small sliver of a bigger issue. I appreciated that because I think it is absolutely, when we think about who is most impacted, yes, it is young women. and I've also read in the literature that young men who identify as LGBTQ plus have also been seen to be victims or survivors and

and huge caveat, there's not enough research to follow who are the folks who are most impacted in terms of socioeconomic status, in terms of of Race or Ethnicity. It's very limited, the research that we need to do more. There's more I can say, but I'll pause there if there are any questions.

Thank you for your answer. Thank you, Chiara. I do just want to And on the statement, it's difficult to be a woman, right? Even now I have to wait an hour later in the morning with the time change to go out and walk my dog. I used to leave at 5.30. The sun was coming up. Just even seeing my daughter in her late 20s with their friends just getting ready to go out that they have to worry about all of this. So I think we have to continue to advocate and have policies that don't put Murphy.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. First I want to say thank you to the public that provided testimony that was critical to this discussion to survivors. That testimony was critical and very helpful to us. I am concerned about A Freedom of Information request from one of the survivors that's been over a year. I do think we should provide information that is requested. But Mr. Chair, through the Chair, am I able to get all records about any training in all training that the nightlife director and team have done to bars and restaurants from the day they started to the present.

So there'll be training and who the training was with and You know, regarding materials, drink spiking prevention, I want to take a look at that data on exactly what this DePom and Stone. Is that okay? For the chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn. We can put in that request to the committee.

Thank you. To the nightlife director. How many people are on your staff?

I am a part. Dedicated to nightlife myself, but I'm a part of the economic opportunity and inclusion team, so.

Just one person? Is it just one person? Yes. Okay. And you said your new initiative on training. that you were providing to restaurants and bars. But did that start yet?

So right now, it's an online resource that we launched last year where folks can go in and find resources that are publicly available, but- Full of restaurants. For restaurants, workforce, for citizens, whoever wants that training, who identifies as a nighttime human being.

Could I, for the chair, could I get a record of restaurants and bars that participated in the training.

So, can I clarify? So, Knight U is an online resource where we have different links to different trainings that were done by the American Heart Association that that other folks have done. So I cannot personally track whether someone has used that resource and completed any of those resources.

That's fine. No, I understand. I understand. I just want to get more data. That's my point. I want to get more data on this subject because I think and listening to survivors and listening to other people. This is a crime, a major crime that goes unreported and When something goes unreported, it encourages the person that keeps doing it to continue and continue. as if they're not going to be stopped. So I wanna learn about how we're able to prevent this, provide the training. So let me ask, Captain, if someone is arrested for spiking a drink, What crime did they commit? What is the actual crime?

There are different things that they could possibly, it depends on what the circumstances were. I'm not exactly sure if in particular if it was just like what exactly the crime on that would be. Councilor, I could... I'd imagine that there are different circumstances with that.

Okay. Maybe for the chair, am I able to get a list of Arrests Boston Police have done over the last two years on people that were or how many people were arrested and where they were arrested for spiking drinks. I'll work on that. Okay, okay. One of the issues I really focused on is the Boston Police Crime Lab. And I know, Captain and Lieutenant, I know You're doing the best you can. I am concerned that we don't have a state of the art crime lab in the city of Boston. I want to see that. I want to see Boston have the best crime lab, the most advanced crime lab. like New York City does.

We're not testing sexual assault kits on the most updated technology which is Y-screening. I've been a stickler on the Boston Police Crime Lab for years. And I do think we need to do more in terms of how we test sexual assault kits and providing the resources and support for survivors of sexual assault as well. Captain, do you have any interaction at all with the crime lab as it relates to these sexual assault kits or lieutenant?

I do. Obviously, I know I've heard you mention a lot about the widescreening just to let you know that through various different grants, we are working on implementing widescreening in the crime lab in the near future. and recently through another federal grant, we've, again, We've initially tested for these kits, but we've sent out 150 kits to an outside lab to retest some of these kits for Y-Scream and for some of our older sexual assault kits. We are working towards getting to our crime lab of having widescreen where we'll be able to do that all in-house.

Okay, thank you Lieutenant. Mr. Chief, for the record, could I also get a... An update of the org chart at the Boston Police Crime Lab. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to be respectful to my colleagues. I'm out of time. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councilor Flynn. We will put that request into the committee.

Next up we have Councillor Durkan. You have the floor.

Thank you so much, Chair. I'm proud to be a co-sponsor of today's hearing and I want to thank Councillor Coletta Zapata for her work and leadership on this issue. As a survivor of drink spiking, I remember what it was like when I heard that Councilor Coletta Zapata was working on this issue. It is incredible to see these survivors here talking to their experience. I know that when I first spoke on the council floor about this, I definitely was re-triggered back from like, After six years and didn't realize that it would have that impact on me because I had pushed the memories down so far. And so I want to thank the Boston Police, Lieutenant Detective, Captain Detective, Chair Joyce, Corinne Reynolds, thank you for being here. and Director Mendoza-Areta, thank you for your work. I appreciate all the work that's been done to better equip small businesses in our nightlife economy to handle these incidences.

People deserve to get tested if they believe their drink has been tampered with, regardless of whether sexual assault was involved, so I'm grateful to Senator Feeney for his bill and hopefully that passes soon. I know for me, I called a poison control hotline to determine whether I thought my drink was spiked the next day. I had very few memories of what had happened after the fact. Many memories came flooding back and I believe now I can piece together all of the, but I was not ready to be questioned by the police. I was not ready to walk into a police station And I didn't do that because I didn't feel comfortable. And I know when I've shared my incident with the Boston police and others, This did happen actually in Cambridge, but when I've talked to Boston police officers, it is always uncomfortable to get like question after question about something that happened to you years ago that is traumatic. And so I want to acknowledge that

We're not going to have 100% of people that are going to step forward because for a lot of people it is just so re-traumatizing to have to go through that. And even now it's like, I didn't realize I was going to get emotional today talking about this, but It's super emotional seeing people that have dealt with the same thing. And I know as a city, we need to work on this issue. So I'm really grateful to Councilor Coletta Zapata for all of her work. I know in my district I have a ton of students. I have 12 colleges and schools that touch district 8. Alana Katz-Katz is my constituent, so thank you for your leadership. I know that I think my district rivals Councilor Flynn's for the most liquor licenses in the city. We're always going back and forth. I have a very commercial district, Causeway Street, Lansdowne Street, Newbury Street, Boylston Street. I have a ton of liquor being served.

I'm just curious, Chair Joyce, what the response is when there are incidences and sort of how the police and Coletta-Zapata. I can say we

It's not a perfect science. We're working together very closely. I personally don't do a lot of social media monitoring. I know the police have people that do that all the time. When we're made aware of it, we share information. If it's reported to the local police district, our licensed premise unit will then go and follow up at the licensed premise afterwards. So it's kind of like figuring out the best way to respond. If it's an ongoing investigation, we won't even get the report until the investigation is closed. So sometimes you might We might get a report of something that was six months ago because until it's considered basically closed we're not going to have a public hearing on it.

The other thing that I would add is I know there are a lot of very responsible business owners in my district who have had these incidences occur on their premises because there are people that want to do bad things that are Seeking Out, Crowded Bars, and Places Where It's Hard to Maintain. I think it's important that we create spaces and training and information so that it's not simply a conversation about the business but also about I mean obviously there are cases where there are people that are doing this in a in a business But I do want to say that from my experience and from talking to folks, it happens to a lot of women who are consensually hanging out with someone and then suddenly something is happening. And so I just think And I think every single case is different.

So at least I'll just be very transparent about what happened to me. I actually ended up buying this person a drink and they asked me to try their drink because their drink was really strong. I didn't think twice about it. took a sip and so it's like I just want to share that that like sometimes you can do everything right and it's like a split second decision um that you make and you know and I'd like to hear from the Boston Police Department specifically because I know we've talked a lot about social media on the City Council and The types of work that the BRIC is doing to monitor social media, so I'm just curious how that relates to these incidences.

There's a few things I wanted to touch on. We're well aware of how difficult it is, you know, I'll just, in relation to sexual assaults, how difficult it is for somebody to come in, a survivor to come in and report this. So we understand that everybody has a different timeline and repeated, Almost victimization, you know, we've acknowledged that. We work with the DA's office with regard to minimal facts, investigations, and we do our best with that, try to limit people trying to, you know, Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us. for however long, you know, years.

and so you don't have the information to say hey I need this toxicology report or I just the confusion whatever the case might be so we're well aware of that we try well especially when there's drinking involved like you're like I had

Thank you for joining us. Thank you for watching. Unfortunately, it's like when you do everything right and you go to the hospital and that hospital is not required to test you. That, I mean, that is the experience after talking about this on the council floor. That is what. and many more. Unfortunately, I was not ready when this happened to me, but I think for anyone that is, they should be offered all of the resources.

And so I'm grateful that this bill has reached a milestone at the State House. I'm grateful for the City Council and Councillor Cleta Zapata's role in moving this forward, and I'm grateful to my constituents. and to all of the students who have reached out to me concerned about this issue. People should be able, especially ahead of St. Patrick's Day weekend, people should be able to party safely, hopefully, Very safely. And I'm grateful to all of your work because I think it is really important. And I'm sorry I went over. So thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Durkan. I appreciate you. Thank you for sharing your personal experience with this. Councilor Lujan, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Councilor Santana. I want to thank you, Councilor Coletta Zapata, for your leadership. You've been dogged about this ever since you've entered this chambers, and I was Lucky enough to partner with you on the first hearing order on this last year. So I just want to thank you for who you are and everything that you bring into this chamber. I want to apologize, especially for those who share their own testimony for being late. Our hearings usually start at 10 and I didn't get the memo. So yeah, and I understand why we started at 9.30. So really appreciate the flexibility and want to thank this incredible team. I just want to... you know state that I know it's we're talking about issues that are number one incredibly hard incredibly heavy and incredibly hard to solve but just because they're incredibly hard to solve doesn't mean that they don't deserve our attention and attempts to sort of write culture and do what we can via laws and policies to write a toxic culture. So thank you everyone for the work that you do do. I think Councilor Durkan mentioned St. Patrick's Day on the top of my mind, especially as a chair of

Tourism, Entertainment, Events. It's a long title. I don't even know how it contains special events. We have the World Cup coming, we have Tall Ships coming, we have, and when we talk about culture, we're bringing a lot of different cultures together here in the city of Boston. And a lot of these large events, often you have increased human trafficking, you have increased Assaults on Women. And so just wondering, are we doing anything specific to prepare for these large events? And if so, what are they?

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. One of the units that we have is the human trafficking unit, and they're extremely proactive. It's a small unit. Fortunately, we have cross-training within the Family Justice Center. Some of the detectives have worked in different capacities within the building, so it's very helpful. But again, we're very proactive. We do demand reduction operations. We just had one yesterday. We do them very often. From a scale point, all these different cultural events coming in, we're anticipating a significant increase. With the investigative bureau of the Boston Police, we're trying to focus our piece on that. That we continue to do what we need to do as well as provide the public protection for the large crowds and different events that they're going to be having. So we are well-versed. We have communication already with FIFA. Thank you.

Thank you. operations who are doing and again we do them in Charlestown down in Mass and Cass South Boston we have different different areas that will and a lot of that you know that with Mass and Cass it's District 4, District 6, District 2 so we're aware of that. We have the training like I said within the building and we're We're ready for the FIFA. with regard to human trafficking.

Thank you, Captain. I've flown through a bit recently airports down in Florida, and they do, I mean, like, look, I'm not a Floridian, I don't know how this, but, like, Whenever I'm in the bathroom, I see signs like, are you a victim of human trafficking? And it's in multiple languages. And I think there's like a public awareness and an ad campaign. So I hope that's something that we're thinking about as well that we anticipate because we anticipate so many people coming that we also are preparing a public awareness campaign around resources available to people if they find themselves, right? And it's smart that it happens in a bathroom, right? Because maybe that is the one moment that someone who is a victim of human trafficking or something has a moment to themselves and they can read a poster inside of a bathroom stall that says, are you a victim of human trafficking in multiple languages? Here's a number that you can call. Here are resources available to you. It looks like, Captain, if you'd like to answer. I see Kim. Kim, thank you for all the incredible work that you've been doing.

Well, I'll just say real briefly, you know, we say one of the slogans we've had for a long time is see something, say something. You know, when neighborhoods with this crime, if you see somebody breaking into a car, It's the same case in here, where if you see something that doesn't look right, then say something. And maybe with different things, and we provide that with the center, like I said, with that hotline, You know, if things may be easier to report something like that, call 911, but also get those immediate resources that you may need. But we have that public campaign as well. Just one, Councilor Derrickon left. One piece I'll just add with regard to some of these establishments are being responsible. Some of the feedback I received from the board and our licensed premise unit was that they're now and many more. On receipts, they are writing replacement drinks on the receipts.

If folks believe that maybe their drink has been spiked and they bring it up to the bar, they are replacing People are being responsible on licensed premises, so we'll continue that and share that. I wasn't aware of that prior to trying to gather some information on this hearing, so I'll share that with other places and we'll try to get that word out as well. Kim.

Thank you so much. I think I wanted to say two things that sort of came up as folks were We're talking, and I'll talk about FIFA as well, because the DSG is definitely taking a lead on that, especially around public awareness around the summer events that are coming up. But the first is The symptoms that folks may be exhibiting after being spiked often mimic symptoms of alcohol consumption and intoxication. So when we're thinking about like sudden dizziness, confusion, loss of coordination, nausea, drowsiness, memory gaps, Feeling more intoxicated than you expected or you know know that you we know our body best right and because they closely resemble effects of substances we did voluntarily take particularly alcohol

It is, I think, something to sort of uplift when, you know, just thinking about if someone is exhibiting those symptoms, it can easily, oh, well, they just got too drunk and then sort of dismiss it. And so I think when thinking about More trainings or awareness for folks who might be in settings that they're seeing that whether it's private, which we know most often happens in private settings sometimes, and or public that, you know, that is something to keep in mind. So I wanted to put that on the record. And then second, so FIFA. So the Office of Violence Prevention, awarded the domestic sexual and gender-based violence prevention initiative $80,000 to support the prevention and response of domestic and sexual and Sex Trafficking. So there's three buckets of work that we're doing right now. First, we contracted with Jane Doe Inc.

So that's the federally recognized coalition of domestic and sexual violence organizations. In the state of Massachusetts, excuse me. And through this partnership, we're focusing on three buckets of work. So the first is that coordination and referral system. So we know that Greater Boston, Boston is going to be a hub of just all of the FanFest, all of the activities that are coming in. I think I saw an NPR the other day that was like, we're anticipating It's like basically Super Bowls type events.

100,000 people from Scotland alone, Tartan Army.

Alone, right? Alone. And so just like thinking about just the sort of massive influx of people that are coming in. So just so part of that bucket of work is awareness for the organizations that might be seeing an increase in services needed and so coordinating across not just gender-based violence, so domestic sexual trafficking organizations, but also how are we connecting Human Services providers that are going to be in nightlife, that are going to be in hospitality, that are going to be, you know, potentially interfacing with the survivor folks here at 311, the mayor's office, right? And I also just shout out, this is a collaboration between the Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement, The City of Cambridge's domestic gender-based violence prevention initiative.

We also are in conversations with the Governor's Council to prevent sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking. the Executive Office of Public Safety and Eops. I'm forgetting their initials. There's so many initials. And I'll say that at the state level, there is work that is also being done around FIFA. And we actually are in conversations, I think, Emily over there is in a meeting with them right now and we are complementing each other's work because I think they too are doing a public awareness around see something say something call 9-1-1 and we know that As we've said, a lot of survivors who have been harmed or may need help may not feel comfortable going to the police. And so how are we equipping the domestic and sexual human trafficking organizations to build the capacity

to receive those potential influx. We do know there is research that has been done that shows that domestic violence incidents do go up when there are major sporting events. and so, you know, just preparing the capacity of the community-based organizations. There are three convenings that Jane Doe will be holding. Two of them will be specifically for gender-based violence specific organizations. So that's domestic, sexual, and human trafficking. And then one of them will be for non-gender based violence providers who just want to learn more. At that non-gender-based violence convening that will happen, all three will be virtual. We'll be ready to give out social media toolkits that folks can use on their social medias.

We're hoping to tap into City Hall because I think putting those signs in bathrooms, being able to put them in places at the Fan Fest, just as all of the work, also shout outs to the programs at the Boston Public Health Commission that are doing work on emergency management infectious disease, right? There is a lot of information that will be going out, and I hope to cross-pollinate in all of those efforts that are happening in our team at the commission. and so public awareness is building the capacity of the community-based organizations and really supporting the coordination of systems and across sectors is happening right now and we are

I think Isaac left, but he did confirm that we booked on the 20th next Friday at 1 p.m. the Eagle Room so that we can go more into detail about this project that we're doing. So just wanted to.

Thank you, I know my time is up, but just wanted to thank all of you. Thank you, Lieutenant Detective, is that the right time? Okay, Lieutenant Detective and Director Joyce, and Corrine Reynolds for all that you're doing. Corrine, I know that you are a team of only one, but you are punching way above your weight, having to uphold both the joy of trying to build nightlife, but also in these very difficult issues. I know chair and to lead sponsor, my questions were not necessarily related to drink spiking, but there is definitely a correlation and I think it's important that we do everything we can. I have a hearing order on domestic violence and sexual assault itself but I think that there is a correlation and we will be seeing a correlation more during these large events Kim I think the data the proof is in the pudding for These large sporting events, heavily male-dominated events, bring more violence against women. And as we're celebrating, and I'm excited to celebrate the World Cup, I'm also very anxious and worried about what that means for people who live here and for people who will be brought here. against their will.

And so whatever we can do on the council to support your work, whatever funding that would be helpful to help augment or to provide more trainings, Corrine, or to do more public awareness campaigns to the folks of the public, for our police department, just consider us here as your allies. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Louijeune. We're now going to go back to the lead sponsor, Councilor Coletta Zapata, for a second round of questions.

Thank you so much chair and I just want to thank all my colleagues for their amazing questions and to all of you again for your work. I do have just a couple quick questions and I will keep it six minutes. I know and appreciate that you've taken time to be here today. I forgot to ask one question of the BPD before I go to the Boston Public Health Commission and then to the Licensing Board and Office of Nightlife Economy. What are the most recent data trends that we're seeing from 2024 to now? You had mentioned, and I apologize that I didn't get the exact number, but anything from 2024 to now, FY25 that we can point to of reports or anything that's been tracked within that Mark 43 system.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear the first part of it. What was it?

What are the most recent data trends? What is the number between?

So, so far since in 2026 for spike drinking incidents, this is from the beginning of March, there were seven. All of 2025, there were 78. All of 2024, 73. Drink-Spiking Sexual Assaults or Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assaults. 2026 has been one reported, 2025, seven, 2024, 10. I can email those numbers to you as well.

Thank you so much. I think that's kind of along the lines of what Councillor Flynn was asking for, so thank you. And just how often do your... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

and reluctance not reluctance but the hospital not having what they just just drink spiking yeah say almost not not have toxicology results yeah with sexual assaults we usually

I think there was some confusion earlier, but what his legislation will do is mandating that standard testing protocol in uniform standard of care so that victims can get the testing that they need to prevent future crimes and hold perpetrators accountable. So I just wanted to make sure that the record was clarified on that. Thank you. Thank you for being here and your work. For the BPHC, just appreciate everything you're doing. You have an incredible command on this issue, and you are clearly just an expert in your field, and again, just grateful for your testimony here. Is there anything else that could be made or any improvements from a policy standpoint at the municipal level while we do await pending passage at the State House for this?

Thank you so much for that question. So I think When thinking about policy in particular, the data collection piece that's broader than just following during spiking related to sexual assault is needed. So I think when I testified last year in April, there was a domestic and sexual violence hearing. I had talked about the need, as I was preparing for that hearing, it was, Thank you. Thank you. and so I think when we're thinking about collecting data, following data related to drink spiking, sexual assault, if we can take it one step broader,

So the DSG, we have been working alongside the BRIC to think about what are the best ways that we can share information and data Most recently, our assisted program within the Office of Violence Prevention, the Capacity Building and Training Initiative was able, so I'll be transparent, the DSG We are trying to piecemeal together ways in which we can do public awareness campaigns in which we can build a robust data infrastructure that can build because we are a team of two. and our capacity building training initiative colleagues have some monies in for data collection and so we are thinking right now about how we can support an evaluation team to to do a lot of the sort of connectors that need to be happening at the state level with hospitals, with community-based organizations.

And so when we think about drink spiking, and Data Collection. I was really excited about that because I think data collection is needed and so however we can sort of decreased barriers to data sharing. I know domestic and sexual violence data is supremely sensitive and confidentiality and Survivor Safety is always sort of at the top of our need of the need of all of the data collection that we do and I think as a public health program we're uniquely situated to sort of I think in regards to sort of some prevention ideas, The primary prevention strategies that come to mind is really that consent education, bystander intervention programming, and really addressing the people who are spiking.

because I think when folks, as I was reading the research, it felt really disgusting. to think that there are people who think that it's okay to violate someone's autonomy for fun or just to see what's happening or to relax the mood or whatever it is and I think that really sort of for me it's like the underlying context of like what is happening in that environment that allows someone to feel like that's okay and so how we can address that perpetrator behavior is really thinking about what are the laws that they are Louijeune mentioned there's 100,000 folks from Scotland coming.

or folks who are you know folks who are coming into the U.S. for these specific to have fun right and so there might be already a culture of like of drinking of you know using recreational drugs whatever it is and right now people have the right to have fun, people have the right to drink and not to be raped or sexually assaulted or to have their autonomy taken from them. And so however we can sort of, if you do this, even if it's just for fun, even if the motivation isn't to assault someone, just to see what happens, you're still breaking the law, right? And so I think that addressing perpetrator behavior is important. But I think for me, I'm always thinking about how do we stop this from ever happening in the first place? So that primary intervention I mentioned, Start Strong. which is a national leader in supporting youth in learning about healthy behaviors, healthy boundaries, consent.

And that's the type of work that I hope that we can expand on because that's how we break norms, that's how we change norms and we start creating the future that we want. Sorry.

Thank you. Oh, no, you're good. Thank you. Everything that you're saying is resonating with me, just talking about the primary We just had a BPS hearing on the budget asking and one of the questions that I asked is is Boston abiding by the New legislation that was put into place a couple years ago, the Healthy Youth Act that was sponsored by Senator DiDomenico. Within that education, there are certain standards and metrics that BPS is supposed to be meeting Within health education and sex education, and I know talking about sex education and BPS is like the third rail in politics, but it is so important because of the fact that it includes consent and also includes inclusive language for LGBT youth. and how to be in healthy relationships. So everything always connects and I'm just grateful for your work on that. I appreciate it.

I am going to go to the licensing board just really quick to ask my last questions. I know that you all had talked about Staff trainings and bringing awareness to licensed premises and educational materials. Has there been any feedback from the hospitality industry about providing or sorry excuse me let me start from the beginning what feedback has the hospitality industry provided regarding implementation challenges like are there any challenges that they've talked about with you all has there been anything that they've asked of the city in terms of technical assistance that we could be providing them if just given a magic wave of the wand we have all the money in the world like what can we be doing as a city to to better help our Our license premises.

I'll let Corrine talk a little bit. But one thing I will say is our license premise unit works directly and nightly with the license premises throughout the city. And in real time, they'll educate and train. That being said, what I'm hearing is that licensees wish that more people reported to them right away. But again, people don't realize what's happening to them. And as Councilor Durkan said, A lot of our licensees are doing the right thing. They do have covers on hand. A lot of them do have signs in their bathrooms. A lot of them do weekly shift trainings on this. and they would be willing to do more. But I think the missing piece is they don't know exactly that this is going on. So continuing to raise awareness, to educate, to train. Corrine has some examples.

I'll speak one to the difficulty on my end of reaching licensees to offer the training. like I said we had we reached out to all of our licensees and we sent an email saying what kind of training would you want and drink striking prevention training was on there that do you want to sign up for for the Drink Covers is on there, CPR, you name it, Stop the Bleed, that was on there. We only received 47 responses from licensed premises. I want to be very clear about that. Really, the relational thing is really what works, but that means I'm out all the time trying to get people on board and to respond to schedule these trainings. And we've seen difficulty in our partners at Bring Your Own Women where we say, hey, these people said they want this, but it's hard to schedule with these folks

because of the issues that the licensees have said there's a lot of turnover in the industry. And so a lot of them are like, well, we train our staff up, but then there is a shift in our staff, so we lose. and many more. within the ecosystem of nighttime workforce. It's also like some of the best practices, and I'm talking about safety in general, The access to the resources. So we had an incident where there was a heart attack at a club. and a person reached out and was like, we want to get a defibrillator, but it's super expensive. Is there a way we can offset those costs? And so even having the right equipment is a barrier

for these folks to create safe environments.

Have you heard of any, or is there any discussion, because this was something that we had talked about three years ago where there was an instance where we were able to catch this perpetrator dropping something in the drink because there was a camera. It was on camera. It was undeniable. Do a lot of the premises have that? How can we help them even with something as simple as that? In the legislation, they talk about you need to have signage, you need to have this. Do something like that.

We don't mandate cameras on licensed premises. I highly recommend it. But again, some of these cameras, they vary. They're not as sophisticated from one place to the next. Some places automatically right over them in 10 hours, not even like 10 days. Some, I will say, once asked to preserve video, the majority of licensed premises go to great lengths to preserve the video. What you're describing is when they actually had the evidence of the person dropping it into the drink. That's the exception to the rule. Generally, they're not able to determine in real time when it happened or where the person was, but that victim was lucky in that situation. I know a lot of licensees are like, what else should we do? What can we do? I always say to them, please call the police, even if you don't think an actual assault happened.

And if police show up at your license premise, please preserve video that night. You never know when it's going to be requested of you before the licensing board or by a detective for an investigation. And I emphasize that at every single hearing to preserve video and to contact the police. It goes a long way in the eyes of the board if the licensed premise themselves called the police and was responsive, not a bystander, not the victim themselves when they got home. So it actually helps them as far as discipline if they've called the police themselves and preserved video.

I can share just on that the leverage that the licensing board holds over them. They are very compliant with different things. When we are asking not just situations like this for other incidents, anything with regard to trying to seek film, They're very, very cognizant of the licensing board so they do a great job holding them accountable. I just had one recommendation. I don't know how many parents are here, but I coach my kids in different things. I have to get certified every year to coach something. I don't know if maybe we can implement something in that, saying that if you are a nighttime worker, you take a couple of online courses that you think might be important that way you're not trying to chase everybody and you know we you go to one bar to another or another club and just say yeah my certification number is this maybe maybe that could be the answer to

Yeah, and we've looked into that, because everybody has to do SirSafe and TIPS and all that stuff, and the city has provided TIPS training to people who work in the nightlife industry. We also want to We also want to ensure that folks are taking agency of their own license premises and it's not on just us of creating safe environments because that is a part of their license and ensuring that they're creating Thank you.

Thank you for that recommendation. I would never want to go in front of Chairwoman Joyce if I've done something wrong. She does a great job. And I do know that there was some internal reform where there was maybe some punishment. I know that you've been working on that, where instead of them feeling like, oh, well, I get in trouble as the owner of this if I want to report it. So I appreciate that, too.

Yeah, I like to think the culture of the licensing board under my leadership is please come forward and call the police. We're not going to hold it against you. We want to work with them. I feel like we're part of their management operations. They have to understand what the responsibility is with their license. So I really do try to be in the best definition of it, a friendly board to licensees because we want everyone to be safe. And I think At the end of the day, every licensed premise is trying to keep people safe. It's a very difficult time out there for them. I think they would go to great extremes to make sure everyone who enters a licensed premise in the city of Boston is safe when they enter and safe when they leave. And I always say it's not about who's drunk inside your premises, making sure people don't come in that are already overly intoxicated. And I know it's very important to Councillor Flynn and not to go on and on, It's not just what happens inside as well. Make sure they get home safely. Make sure they're getting into a safe Uber.

Don't just like expel someone from your license premise and think you've done your job. It's more than that.

Thank you. And I know we are just focusing on bars and nightlife and predominantly based on the data this does happen in personal situations where somebody's meeting up with somebody on an app and it I know that work is being done to help prevent this from happening in the first place. I appreciate my council colleagues' questions about St. Patrick's Day and as we move forward into some of these big events. I do look forward to continuing this conversation. I don't have any more questions, Chair. Thank you so much for your grace, and thank you all again for your work.

Thank you, Councilor Coletta Zapata, and again, thank you for your leadership on this matter. I want to thank again all of our panelists and want to especially thank those who gave public testimony. It's important that we take action to prevent sexual violence in the city of Boston. and these conversations inform and inspire the much needed action. It's also critical to raise awareness on these issues and hosting this hearing ahead of St. Patrick's Day is especially important from bringing this to the forefront of our public consciousness. Thank you for sharing your insights. I look forward to continuing the work as a city and as a council on this matter. I want to thank our panelists. And there is no more public testimony, so this hearing on docket number 0167 is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.