Crime & Safety
Homeless Camp Clean-Ups Underway To Keep People Safe
A homeless camp outside the Hillsborough County Courthouse in Manchester was clearer — with trash, needles, and human waste removed.
MANCHESTER, NH — Members of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office moved several people away from the Hillsborough County North Superior Courthouse Thursday in an effort to clear the area of campers, debris, and other issues.
Several people had set up tents, canopies, hammocks, and made campsites outside the courthouse at Chestnut and Merrimack streets. During the summer, the area became a camp for more 30 people at sometimes.
The property is owned by the state and the courthouse building is leased from the state of New Hampshire. The city of Manchester does not have any jurisdiction on the property — unless a criminal acts occur and setting up camps is not criminal.
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The people were temporarily moved from the lawn, benches, and path to the courthouse by sheriff deputies. Workers in protective gear then moved in to clean the area — picking trash, needles, human waste, and abandoned property.
A metal grate over a courthouse window has been regularly used for human waste and the area was cleaned and sanitized.
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The parcel is one of many pieces of land around the city classified as "green space" — it is not a park nor is private property
In an interview over the Summer, MPD Chief Capano stressed the Community Policing and the Patrol Division regularly issued citations for things such as drinking in public. He said the city would not remove the people because it is a violation of their rights.
The intersection of Granite and Canal, which previously had several camps set up, is now lined by plastic orange fences. The city of Manchester classified this area a city park. Parks can have rules, and enforced curfews.
Once the cleaning was complete the people were allowed to move back into the space.
Manchester now has over 30 known camps around the city of Manchester. Over the summer NH State Police coordinated efforts with a haz-mat company to clean up several of those camps. The effort they made is detailed in this article.
©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news
