Homeless Calls Keep Police Moving Across Portsmouth

Portsmouth police handled another round of homeless-related calls involving people sleeping outside businesses, standing on railroad tracks, returning to stores where they had been trespassed, and being moved along from private property. Officers were first called to Staker’s Drugs on Chillicothe Street after a report of a homeless woman sleeping on the property. Police found the woman sleeping on the sidewalk. She was awake and advised to gather her belongings and move along. Later, police responded to the 11th Street underpass after the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office reported a shirtless man standing on the train tracks, waving his arms, and screaming. Officers detained the man and later took him into custody on a county warrant. Police booked him on a probation violation. The homeless man had previous convictions for public indecency, assault, and disorderly conduct. Officers were also called to Aldi after a report of a man passed out near the front of the store by the buggy area. Police spoke with him, advised him of the complaint, and moved him along. Another call came from Kroger after a homeless man who had previously been trespassed from the store reportedly went back inside. The man left the store and headed down 8th Street toward the stadium. Officers later found him across from Portsmouth High School on Gallia Street. Kroger told police it did not want to pursue theft charges, but did want to pursue the trespass issue. Police were also called back to Staker’s Drugs for another report of a woman sleeping on the side of the building. This time, officers warned her that she could receive a trespass summons if she did it again. The calls show the same pattern Portsmouth keeps seeing. Businesses call because people are sleeping on sidewalks, lying near entrances, wandering around stores, or returning after being warned to stay away. Police respond, check on the person, move them along, issue warnings, or make an arrest if there is a warrant or an active trespass issue. Sometimes the person leaves. Sometimes they come back. Sometimes they move from one business to the next. For store employees and property owners, it is frustrating. They should not have to start the day by moving someone from the sidewalk, cleaning up after people, or worrying about customers walking around someone passed out near the door. For police, these calls take time and keep repeating. And for the homeless people involved, being moved along does not mean they suddenly have housing, treatment, medication, transportation, or somewhere safe to sleep. So the cycle continues. One sidewalk. One store entrance. One underpass. One trespass warning. Then another call.

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