Five area police departments will participate in the federal Drug Enforcement Agency’s semiannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the departments will host collection centers where police will collect residents’ unused medications.

Collection centers will be located at the New London Police Department at 5 Governor Winthrop Blvd.; Waterford Police Department at Walmart, 155 Waterford Parkway North; City of Groton Police Department at 295 Meridian St.; Stonington Police Department at 173 S Broad St.; and Old Lyme Police Department, 294 Shore Road.

“The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is a clear and present public health, public safety, and national security threat,” the DEA website says.

The DEA said take back day reflects its “commitment to Americans’ safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.”

According to the DEA, the last nationwide take back day in October 2023 yielded 599,897 pounds of drugs across 4,674 collection sites.