Lebanon
About 300 people responded to the survey — posted on the city’s website in May — to express concerns about public safety and offer solutions. While the results highlight residents’ worries about traffic and crime, many of those were expected, said Police Chief Richard Mello.
“People are focused on quality of life issues,” he said. “If you ask them what they’re truly concerned about, it’s things that affect them day-to-day.”
Traffic and speeding are among the top concerns, Mello said, because most people commute daily and see problems upfront. Drugs are also a big concern because of the ongoing discussions surrounding the opioid epidemic in New Hampshire, he said.
Roughly 27 percent of those who responded to the survey reported seeing speeding in their communities. Another 21 percent reported drug-related issues and 12 percent cited traffic troubles.
Looking to the future, about 30 percent said drugs likely would need to become more of a focus for police, while 18 percent said traffic enforcement would.
Although those responses didn’t surprise Mello, some of recommended solutions did.
Many said an increased officer presence or more police would abate trouble. About 27 called for more officers to curb drugs, 31 percent called for more visible traffic patrols, and 38 wanted patrols to stop vandalism.
“Increased enforcement of increased presence is always a possibility, even given current staffing,” said Mello, but it’s not the answer to every problem.
The police chief has advocated for a method of policing called “problem oriented policing” since coming onto the force in December. It calls for police to explore data-driven methods of solving problems for long-term fixes.
Mello pointed to a recent discussion of speeding on Crafts Avenue as an example of the method. Residents on the West Lebanon street have long complained about speeding and increased traffic because of the neighborhood’s use as a cut-through from main roads.
When neighbors went to City Council requesting a speed table, Mello’s statistics said one wasn’t needed, but police were still able to recommend reducing the speed limit and making the road partially one-way.
He said the department could have instead chose to assign more police to reduce speeding.
“But that’s not really solving the problem,” Mello said. “That’s just solving or trying to address the symptoms.”
Police will soon be applying that model to other problems, he said, along with evaluating how the department is organized. The city’s police staffing hasn’t increased in the past 15 years, and a study could soon find there’s a need for more resources, he said.
The department also hopes to use the survey responses to work better with neighbors. A suggestion that police establish a crime tip line are currently being explored, Mello said.
Assistant Mayor Suzanne Prentiss praised Mello’s direction and said she’s interested to see how the survey results will impact the upcoming budget process.
“I think it’s a smart way to do business,” she said. “Not every department can do business like that.”
Like Mello, Prentiss wasn’t surprised by the results on traffic.
“Quite honestly, in my time on council the thing I have heard most about has been speeding and traffic concerns,” she said.
Discussions like the one on Crafts Avenue are common, she said, and Lebanon’s growth often leaves neighborhoods worried about increased traffic.
“They want to protect the integrity of their neighborhoods,” Prentiss said, adding that people want to be assured their children are safe.
Drug concerns are being discussed across the Northeast and are also a common fear she hears about. With Interstate 91 and 89 so close, heroin likely passes the area as it moves from Massachusetts into Vermont, said Prentiss, who served as a manager of emergency medical services at Concord Hospital.
“There is an attention to enforcement that needs to be had,” she said, adding that more funding might be needed, but city coffers can’t be expected to pay for all of it.
The Lebanon Fire Department will soon perform its own study as part of its planning process, but Chief Chris Christopoulos said the police survey does partially correspond to department calls. He said overdoses this year saw a “slight uptick” and accidents increased 17 percent over last year.
“I can’t say for certain that this is attributed to speed, though,” he said in an email.
Mello said a committee in the police department will continue to implement the survey’s suggestions. People can find the results at police.lebnh.net.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.