By Douglas P. Guarino, Foster’s Daily Democrat (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - The Portsmouth Police Department will no longer participate in the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force.
Portsmouth Police Chief Michael Magnant said his decision to pull out of the program was in part based on the St. Patrick’s Day incident in which one of his officers was allegedly assaulted during an altercation with off-duty members of the task force.
The alleged assault occurred during the first of two separate altercations at Portsmouth restaurants.
Portsmouth police responded to a report of the second altercation, which involved civilians.
Magnant said Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams told him earlier this week that the criminal investigation into the incident is not yet complete. According to Magnant, Reams said the investigation may be delayed further because a new witness had recently come forward.
Reams was not available for comment Thursday.
Magnant said he informed the police commission of his decision to pull out of the task force during a closed-door meeting last week. The move does not require a commission vote.
Magnant said the St. Patrick’s Day incident “caused us to take a look at our relationship with the Attorney General’s Drug Task Force and this program in particular and what benefits we were getting from participation.”
“It caused us to take another long, hard look at this program,” he said. “My feeling was we weren’t realizing enough benefit from this program and felt we can use the person somewhere else.”
Magnant said the officer the city contributes to the program would be more useful to the department working in Portsmouth on local drug problems rather than working on statewide issues out of Concord.
When the task force was first created in the 1980s, Magnant said, Portsmouth did not have its own narcotics detectives. One Portsmouth detective was assigned to conduct drug investigations as part of his duties in between investigating other crimes.
The creation of the state task force was a “big step in the right direction,” Magnant said.
“As time went on we realized they weren’t dedicated to the problem in our community,” Magnant said. “They were always chasing after the big dealer, going after the big fish.”
Magnant said former Portsmouth Police Chief Brad Russ was able to secure funds with the help of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to fund its own street team.
Now, the department has two full-time narcotics detectives working locally, Magnant said.
“We have a local presence now, so I think the benefit of being part of the drug task force has diminished,” Magnant said.
“What we found in Portsmouth is there is a definite benefit to having some offices dedicated to this type of work right of the department, Magnant said, adding it allows patrol officers and detectives to share information directly. “Overall it’s just a better result for the community.”
While he said Portsmouth doesn’t have as big a drug problem as larger cities such as Manchester, Magnant said the city has a “number of hard-core junkies” who regularly commit petty crimes such as picking pockets and shoplifting as a means to feed their habit.
“Heroin out there now is cheap and plentiful and it’s a very scary drug,” Magnant said, adding police are also dealing with the abuse of other drugs such as cocaine, crack, and marijuana.
On Tuesday, Magnant announced five arrests resulting from a seven-month investigation into the heroin overdose deaths of two Seacoast residents.
The officer assigned to the task force in Concord will return to Portsmouth in January to replace retiring Detective Kevin Semprini. This, Magnant said, will allow him to shift resources to the department’s patrol division.
The department is in the process of filling one patrol vacancy. When Semprini retires, police will hire another patrol officer, keeping the force at a total of 69 officers.
Although the Attorney General’s Office paid much of the salary and benefits for the Portsmouth officer participating in the program, Magnant said Portsmouth still had to pay approximately 25 percent.
“The fact of the matter is there is still a cost to the city,” Magnant said.
Magnant said the fact that Portsmouth was not eligible to receive a cut of any money seized during drug busts because its task force officer was not assigned locally did not play a role in his decision to pull out of the task force.
“We don’t finance our operations here with drug seizure money,” Magnant said.