Splaine: Support Portsmouth police budget and new police building
When I was first elected to the City Council in November of 1969, Stanton Remick was "city marshal." That title was assigned in those days to the head of the Portsmouth Police Department, who today we call "chief."
Stan, as he preferred, was among the first telephone calls (no texts or e-mails then!) I received a day or two after my election with an invitation to visit the police department on Penhallow Street. As the youngest member elected to the council at age 22, and having been involved in noisy and sometimes destructive demonstrations at UNH, Manchester, Concord, Boston, and in our city against the Vietnam War, I had a certain nervousness accepting his invitation.
As I walked into the hallway the first sound was squeaking floorboards. The first words I heard were the city marshal approaching me with a big smile, bold voice, and strong handshake: "Welcome to our old building." That set the tone for the next three hours as we toured every room, the cells, attic and basement used for storage, and his own office that probably hadn't been painted for a decade. Coffee was good; he made it himself from grounds in what was known as a "percolator." Google it.
During the next few years, I got to know Stan Remick well, with him helping me in my state Senate days on law enforcement issues. I came to know his son during my school teaching days. I spent many hours learning from Stan about needs of law enforcement, and also the history of our community. He mirrored librarian Dorothy Vaughan in his knowledge of everything Portsmouth.
Thinking about Stan Remick and his career commitment, I suggest today's City Council be supportive of requests from City Manager Karen Conard for the Portsmouth Police Department budget. It rises from about $12,550,000 to about $13,150,000, or $600,000 more. That 4.8% increase, however, considers more than just personnel and salary increases, and Covid-19 catch-up; it provides a lot of tangible activities that law enforcement have to undertake in an ever-challenging unpredictable world.
Police Chief Mark Newport and Police Commissioners Stefany Shaheen, Buzz Scherr, and Kate Coyle have done excellent work explaining their budget. Acting Police Chief Michael Maloney has done a very competent job further answering questions and making the strongest case on the need for and value of a new police station.
When I became police commissioner a few years back, I spent hundreds of hours in that department. What Stan Remick had told me some 50 years ago of the need for more space to handle the challenges of a new century holds true for what we need for the balance of this century.
Stan Remick fought for a new building long ago, and almost got it as his department was squeezed – squished really – into part of the old Portsmouth Hospital. That footprint doesn't allow for efficient use of our police resources or the sort of technical and intelligence work our law enforcement does. It's better than in Stan's days, but only those "squeaky floorboards" are missing.
Acting Chief Maloney has used words like “inefficient and inadequate” to describe it. As an ever-growing community with tourism, businesses, and an increase of housing, we need to be prepared for unknown challenges in the next forty, fifty years.
Think of that: "unknown challenges." Like our firefighters and other first responders, they never know what may face them next time they clock in. We have to invest in them. Invest. In. Them.
That's what it's all about. Now, as much as ever in Stan Remick's days, we need to invest in our police department. In their budget. In a new building. It's not just that they need it. WE do.
Today's quotes: "In the coming few years, we're going to need more space. Help us." - City Marshal Stan Remick, November1969, speaking to the need for moving the police department out of a cramped, old building on Penhallow Street.
“It’s going to have to be done sometime, and the longer you wait, the more expensive it’s going to be." - Acting Police Chief Michael Maloney, quoted on Seacoastonline, May 10, 2022, speaking to the need for moving the police department out of a small old cramped building on Junkins Avenue.
Next time: Why "Portsmouth Pride" is about all of us.
Jim Splaine has served variously since 1969 as Portsmouth assistant mayor, Police Commission member, and School Board member, as well as New Hampshire state senator and representative. He can be reached at jimsplaineportsmouth@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Splaine: Support Portsmouth NH police budget and new police building
