It was another busy weekend for Portsmouth police, with calls piling up about homeless residents causing scenes, struggling with the cold, or winding up in custody. From overturned trash to public indecency, here’s a roundup of just some of the incidents officers handled.
🗑️ Trash Trouble on 7th Street
Just after 1 a.m., a caller reported a man and woman digging through trash and tossing it all over a driveway. Officers found two familiar homeless individuals and told them to clean up the mess and move along.
🛏️ Cold Morning on Gay Street
By 7:30 a.m., callers spotted a man slumped in a wheelchair under a blanket at 11th and Gay. Alarmed neighbors thought he was unconscious, but officers discovered he was simply sleeping outside to stay warm.
🍺 Mortuary Encounter
Later that morning, police were called to Daehler Mortuary after someone reported a man lying under the side awning with beer cans around him. Officers identified him as another homeless individual they knew well. He wasn’t drunk, but he did have an empty can he’d been tossing out. He left without incident.
😢 Crying in the Elevator at Alexandria House
At Alexandria House, a caregiver called after finding a man crying in the elevator. He claimed a woman in his apartment refused to leave. Officers located her, and a friend escorted her off the property. No charges were filed.
🚻 Indecency on the Esplanade
Just after 4 p.m., downtown business owners had to deal with a man urinating in a doorway on the Portsmouth Esplanade. Officers arrested him for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
🚨 Warrant Arrest on 7th Street
Before the night ended, officers took another troubled homeless woman into custody on 7th Street. She had an open warrant for failing to appear in court. Her rap sheet this year already includes:
🪓 Criminal damaging
🚷 Criminal trespass
💊 Drug abuse
👊 Two assaults
🚨 Disorderly conduct
🧠 The Bigger Picture
What might seem like a string of small incidents is really part of a larger crisis playing out on Portsmouth’s streets. With no local psychiatric beds, limited shelter space, and few long-term treatment options, officers end up fielding call after call involving the same individuals, cycling endlessly between sidewalks, jails, and courtrooms.
Until there’s real investment in housing, mental health treatment, and addiction recovery, neighbors will keep dialing 911, businesses will keep sweeping up, and police will keep documenting the same names over and over again.
👉 What do you think? Should the city crack down harder on these cases—or focus more on services to break the cycle?
