City of Victoria officials say a communication breakdown caused the public to be left in the dark for nearly two months after a needle was found taped to a handrail in a downtown parkade in April.

The public only learned about the needle, taped to the underside of a handrail in the Yates Street Parkade, after a security guard took a photo of it and showed it to a man who posted it on social media Monday.

The photo instantly went viral, being shared thousands of times on Facebook.

It was then the city confirmed it had actually been discovered on April 17, sparking questions about why it took so long for the public to be made aware.

On Tuesday the city said while security guards communicated the discovery to police and parking facility staff, who stepped up patrols immediately following the incident, the report never made its way to the city’s leadership group.

The city’s director of facilities, Thomas Soulliere, said internal and external communications procedures will now be reviewed as a result of the breakdown.

“I would say internally within our team, we have some communications work to follow up on,” said Soulliere, who admitted he first found out about the needle Monday.

“Within the last 24 hours, we’ve identified some areas where information should’ve been shared with high levels of the organization, and that’s something that we’ll work with our staff and our security contractors on.”

Police say they took the incident seriously when they were first contacted about the needle, but didn’t inform the public because it was an isolated incident.

Investigators said Tuesday that they were not told about the needle until the day after it was removed, making it tough to collect evidence.

Police confirmed there are no suspects in the case, and no needles have been found taped in other parkades.

Health officials say the ordeal was handled correctly from a medical standpoint, as the needle was reported and disposed of, and sweeps of parkades were increased immediately.

But it was the next step of communicating the information that was missed, according to Canadian Public Health Association Executive Director Ian Culbert.

“Public health has learned this lesson time and time again,” said Culbert. “When there is anything that has the potential to impact a population’s health, it is incumbent upon us to share that information with the community, because if we don’t, it raises questions like are being posed today.”

Communications expert David Black called it a teachable moment for the city, one that could actually help improve communication down the road.

“What the city might consider is revising its communication guidelines internally and how one aspect of the bureaucracy talks to the other, and err on the side of more information rather than less,” said Black.

The city and Victoria police are now asking anyone with information about the needle to call police at 250-995-7654 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

 With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Scott Cunningham