State Reverses Stance, Will Let Police Enforce Beaches

The town of Hampton and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office have come to an agreement that will allow Hampton police officers to continue issuing parking tickets and enforcing liquor laws and other laws and ordinances on state property, a longtime practice that the state recently called into question.

Town Manager Fred Welch said the Hampton Police Department was recently informed by the AG’s office that they “couldn’t write any more parking citations on [New Hampshire Department of Revenue and Economic Development] property” after a “parking ticket problem” arose.

Welch said the AG’s office reversed its stance, though, after an “interesting, short, quick… 20- to 30-minute discussion” between the AG’s office, Hampton Police Chief Jamie Sullivan, DRED officials, himself and town counsel on June 26.

“Our position is, ‘Public safety comes first, everything else comes second,’” said Welch, noting that the AG’s office reversed its decision after DRED officials spoke in favor of Hampton officers continuing something he said they’ve done for more than 30 years. “We’re here to protect the town and its residents… and that’s the way it’s going to be.

“Our town ordinances are our town ordinances. I don’t see any difference between the beach and other side of Ocean Boulevard. It’s still the town of Hampton. I don’t think the state should be exerting their sovereign authority. We’re the sovereign and they’re the authority.”

Welch said the meeting was called so Hampton could get a handle on whether they needed to make changes to avoid “mistakes” on state property during the upcoming boon in tourism for Fourth of July and the ensuing weekend.

Hampton annually spends $6,927,705 on services rendered on state-owned beach property, services which include police and fire response, according to Welch. That number didn't sit well with one selectman, who has called for detailed information about the total number of calls to service and the types of calls to service as the town and state continue to work toward an agreement on a joint operations plan for Hampton Beach.

"That’s a staggering number and it far dwarfs what we've talked about here in the past 18 months," said Selectman Phil Bean.

Bean said it hurts Hampton to "turn our backs" on millions in revenue dollars, which is why a "full discussion" is still needed about the money spent on services on state property.

"I don't think we're all that far apart in what we need to contribute," said Bean. "I think we need to drill down."