Nine-inch military surplus steel-toed boots: With boots like these, Dan doesn’t worry about stepping on needles. The boots allow him to walk safely through thickets of vegetation, broken fences, and to squeeze into tight passages packed with needle-strewn garbage.

Grabber: Dan bought this nifty device from an orthopedic store downtown. With it he can safely pick up syringes, condoms, dime bags and other sex and drug paraphernalia. He manipulates it like a third arm, easily grabbing several items together, and dropping them neatly into his plastic used-needle receptacle. He hangs the grabber off a leather band on his belt.
Used needle receptacle, or “sharps container”: This used needle container is manufactured by Beckton, Dickinson and Company, the self-described “Leader in Sharps Safety,” according to their Web site. The container is “durable, stable, closable, leak and puncture resistant, facilitates one-hand disposal, with guards that prevent hands from entering.”
Hip pouch: In his handy hip pouch, Dan carries his pen and notebook, which he uses to jot down the places he finds needles. His stats allow the Spectre de rue to learn where they need to focus their energies, and help in community and police relations. :

-Craig Segal