Cambridge Community Safety Department Community Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) Team

The City of Cambridge’s Community Safety Department (CSD) provide residents with an alternative police response that prioritizes issues of mental and behavioral health in some of the city’s most vulnerable communities. The staff has extensive experience in social work, mental health counseling, developmental psychology, emergency medical services, and other areas. 

Meet the members of your Community Safety Department:

Director Liz Speakman, LICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker), began working for the City of Cambridge as the inaugural Coordinator of the Domestic and Gender Based Violence Prevention Initiative in 2014. During her time in that role, she collaborated with many local community-based organizations and City departments to ensure comprehensive prevention and intervention efforts around gender-based violence in the community. She was a primary force in the development and implementation of the innovative and unique Trauma Informed Law Enforcement Training. This training and subsequent changes to sexual assault investigations at the Cambridge Police Department have transformed the approach to supporting survivors.

Andrew Lovley, Assistant Director of Administration and Operations, has over 10 years of professional experience developing and directing operations for a variety of early-stage startups, nonprofits, and social impact organizations. Andrew supports operations across the Department, including staff performance management, data collection and reporting, budget oversight, inventory and resource management, as well as all internal processes and systems.

Full-time staffing includes Kara Blue, Administrative Coordinator, for the Community Safety Department. She joined the Department after working in various roles at the Transition House in Cambridge and serving as a Trauma-Informed Training Consultant. 

Marie Mathieu, CSD's Assistant Director of Clinical Services, is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) who has spent her 15-year career working in various systems. Prior to joining the CSD, Marie worked as the first social worker for Cambridge Public Library and also as an advisor at the Boston College School of Social Work. Marie prioritizes person-centered approaches and community partnerships in all her work. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s of social work from Andrews University and enjoys communicating in Haitian-Creole and Spanish. Marie is responsible for providing clinical and programmatic leadership for the Community Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) Team and assists in the overall functioning of the Community Safety Department. 

The CARE Team has undergone extensive training that was developed with input from behavioral health experts in the community. In addition to technical training on critical disciplines like CPR and conflict mediation, the responders are also equipped with in-depth knowledge around issues such as suicidality, gender violence, homelessness, and boundary setting.

Meet the Care Team:

Jeffrey Alger grew up in Hopedale, Massachusetts and has been working in the field of public safety for over 16 years, most recently as an EMT in Cambridge. He has also served his community as a firefighter and 911 dispatcher.  

Matthew Gomes is a Cambridge resident, majored in Psychology at Florida State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling at U-Mass Boston. Prior to joining the Cambridge Community Safety Department, he worked as a Research Assistant in the Flavell Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, where he looked at serotonin-signaling in nematodes to understand how neural circuits sustain behaviors.

Evie Lueders-Booth grew up in Cambridge and holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services from U-Mass Boston and a master’s degree in Social Work from Simmons College. She has worked at local community schools, Cambridge Youth Programs (CYS), and the Cambridge Mayors Summer Youth Employment Program.

Dimitri Virgile, who grew up in Medford, holds a bachelor's degree from Sacred Heart University and a master’s degree from Quinnipiac University. He started his professional career working as an EMT, where he was promoted to the position of Field Training Officer. 
 
Jade Young was born in Boston and has over a decade of experience working in the field of human services. She has a long track record of working with at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, and the unhoused.

For more information about the Community Safety Department, please visit https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/communitysafety, email info@cambridgesafety.org or call (617) 349-7200.