Portsmouth police were once again called to Tracy Park over a complaint involving a homeless person and human waste near one of the city’s most visible public spaces.
A city worker reported that someone had defecated near the war memorial.
Officers checked the area but did not find anything near the memorial, so that portion of the complaint was listed as unfounded.
Police identified the woman who had been the subject of the call, but she had already left the area.
Code enforcement later barred her from Tracy Park and documented the ban.
No arrest was reported.
We’ve Seen This Problem Before
This is not the first time police have been called to Tracy Park over sanitation concerns.
SCDN has previously reported on a homeless man accused of defecating on the park stage, along with repeated complaints involving public urination, trash, people sleeping in the park, drug use, disorderly behavior, and other quality-of-life issues.
Those calls have made Tracy Park one of the most visible places where Portsmouth’s homelessness problem collides with everyday use of a public park.
Families want to use the playground.
People want to attend events.
Workers are expected to keep the grounds clean.
And police and code enforcement keep getting called back when the behavior of people living around the park creates another problem.
This Complaint Wasn’t Confirmed
In this latest case, officers did not find evidence that anyone had defecated at the war memorial.
That distinction matters.
But the woman involved was still barred from the park by code enforcement.
So while the most disturbing part of the complaint could not be confirmed, the call still became another entry in the long list of problems tied to homelessness around Tracy Park and nearby downtown businesses.
For police and city workers, the cycle has become familiar:
A complaint comes in.
Officers respond.
Someone is warned, moved along, arrested, or barred.
And sooner or later, another call comes in from the same few blocks.
The bigger problem remains right where it was.
