A question of police presence
As published on page one of the Dec. 8, 2011 edition of the Keene Sentinel, and online.
Grace A. Smart has lived in Central Square Terrace, a 90-unit housing facility for seniors and people with disabilities on Central Square, for 15 years.
She says she's noticed a change since Keene police moved from downtown to Marlboro Street.
"When they were over here we didn't have half as many problems as when they left," she said, gesturing toward the Central Square park on the word "problems."
Smart is not the only person who misses police downtown, and city officials are working on a plan to establish a satellite police office in the city.
The idea came up in response to complaints of bad behavior in public spaces downtown over the summer, including Central Square.
The question is, where should that office be?
That's what puzzled the City Council's municipal services, facilities and infrastructure committee Wednesday night. The committee took no action on a plan to create a satellite office overlooking Central Square.
Keene Housing Authority, which runs Central Square Terrace, has offered a portion of the building's common room to the police to use rent-free, Police Chief Kenneth J. Meola told the committee.
Creating an office in the housing authority building would cost about $5,000, compared to more than $35,000 to renovate a space for the office in the city-owned former transportation center on Gilbo Avenue, Meola said.
In addition, if the transportation center were not used by police it would still be available for the city to rent to a paying tenant, City Manager John A. MacLean told the committee.
"This is the least expensive way to do it if we want to do it," he said.
Meola emphasized that the project is intended to cost very little. The office would not be staffed, but instead used by officers who could go there to do paperwork and meet with residents, he said.
But committee members said they needed more information about the construction costs at the transportation center, which they thought sounded high, before they voted on the proposal to negotiate with the housing authority.
Smart and half a dozen other residents socializing in the Central Square Terrace common room Wednesday welcomed the idea of sharing their space with the police.
Not only would the spot offer a prime view of Central Square, but a police post might deter crime including trespassing and drug use in the building, they said.
"Even knowing they might be here would be a deterrent," resident Sandy J. Forest said.
tagged with: city government, Keene's Central Square, police
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