A homeless woman well known to local police generated multiple calls for service after allegedly harassing teenagers, threatening mental health workers, and making disturbing comments about violence.
Portsmouth police were first called to Offnere Street around 11:30 a.m. after a resident reported the woman was bothering teenagers in the neighborhood.
According to the report, officers were already familiar with the woman from numerous previous encounters involving mental health concerns and disorderly conduct complaints.
🚨 MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY CALLS POLICE
Just minutes later, a local mental health facility contacted police with concerns of its own.
Staff reported the woman was threatening employees and making disturbing statements, including comments that she was trying to keep herself from stabbing people.
The report also notes she made remarks specifically directed toward African Americans.
Officers responded and spoke with staff about the incident.
⚖️ TRESPASSED FROM FACILITY PROPERTY
As a result of the encounter, police formally trespassed the woman from all city locations operated by the mental health provider.
She signed the trespass notice, acknowledging that she was no longer permitted on the properties.
But the action created a familiar problem.
The woman was removed from the facility’s property, yet she remained on the streets.
🔄 A CRISIS THAT KEEPS REPEATING
The latest incidents come just weeks after police responded to multiple complaints involving the same woman.
In one case, a resident who had been trying to help her called police after the woman allegedly became aggressive inside her home and attempted to shove her before leaving with a shopping cart.
Hours later, officers were called to Kroger after reports she was harassing people in the parking lot before following a man walking his dog toward Tracy Park.
Police located her and told her to leave the area.
👮 LIMITED OPTIONS FOR OFFICERS
Calls like these illustrate one of the most difficult challenges facing police departments nationwide.
When a person is clearly struggling with mental illness but does not meet the legal requirements for involuntary hospitalization, officers often have limited options.
They can:
- Investigate criminal complaints
- Issue warnings
- File charges when crimes occur
- Arrange evaluations when legal standards are met
- Trespass individuals from private property
What they cannot do is force long-term treatment simply because someone is behaving erratically.
🏠 THE BIGGER QUESTION
The latest calls raise a question increasingly confronting communities across Southern Ohio:
What happens when someone repeatedly cycles between homelessness, mental health crises, police calls, and short-term interventions—but never receives lasting treatment?
For neighbors, business owners, and mental health workers, the situation can be frustrating and sometimes frightening.
For officers responding to the calls, it often means seeing the same person in crisis again and again.
And for the woman at the center of the reports, being trespassed from another location means one thing:
She’s still homeless, still struggling, and still out on the streets.