Portsmouth police arrested a troubled homeless woman at Tracy Park Thursday afternoon after a report that she was kicking and throwing things near the stage and playground.
Within a day, officers were dealing with her again.
And by the following night, she was back in custody.
The repeated calls involving Tracey Castle show a familiar cycle: police respond, Castle is arrested or moved along, and then she is soon back on the street—sometimes only hours later.
On September 25, officers were called to Tracy Park around 2:30 p.m. for a report of a woman kicking and slinging objects in the area of the stage and playground.
Police took Castle into custody on a disorderly conduct charge and booked her into the Scioto County Jail.
She was released shortly afterward.
“Just Acting Like She Usually Does”
Around 12:30 p.m. the next day, police received another call about a woman screaming and “carrying on” in an alley near Kroger between 6th and 7th streets.
An officer identified the woman as Castle.
The police log contains a striking comment about how routine these calls have apparently become.
“Tracey Castle just acting like she usually does,” the officer noted.
Castle was asked not to return to Tracy Park because officers were concerned they would continue receiving calls about her there. She then headed in another direction.
No arrest was made during that encounter.
Another Arrest Hours Later
Later that same evening, police were called to the Alexandria House apartments after a resident reported that a woman had come to her door and threatened her.
A second caller said the woman was outside an apartment throwing things and yelling and believed she was Castle.
Police contacted Portsmouth Metropolitan Housing Authority security, took Castle into custody, and served her with a no-trespass notice.
She was again booked into the Scioto County Jail.
Castle later appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court and was released on her own recognizance, with a pretrial hearing set for October 27.
A Cycle That Keeps Repeating
Castle has been through the court system before. She was convicted of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in April.
Yet the calls continue.
The police logs do not explain what services, housing options, treatment, or longer-term intervention may have been offered to Castle. They also do not show whether she qualifies for any particular mental health, addiction, or social-service program.
What they do show is a woman repeatedly coming into contact with police, being arrested, being released, and then quickly becoming the subject of another call.
For officers, neighbors, businesses, and Castle herself, it appears to be a cycle with no obvious resolution.
The records do not establish that anyone is deliberately “shrugging her off.” But when an officer can write that Castle is “just acting like she usually does,” and she is back in police custody again hours later, it raises a larger question:
What happens to people who repeatedly cycle through jail and back onto the street when an arrest alone clearly isn’t solving the problem?