Portland leaders respond to video showing drug use, violence in Bayside neighborhood
PORTLAND (WGME) -- Portland leaders are taking action after a video showing drug use, violence and more in the Bayside neighborhood went viral.
"It happens every day," Portland Street landlord Ned Payne said.
Payne brought the video to the attention of Portland officials.
It shows security footage he recorded near his apartment building on Portland Street over the last few months.
"I am not providing [tenants] safe, clean housing, and something needs to change, because this is just not acceptable," Payne said.
"We definitely recognize the critical nature of the situation," At-Large Councilor April Fournier said.
But during a city committee meeting Tuesday, some councilors criticized how the footage was publicized.
"There are also some kind of beautiful moments between human beings there as difficult as those interactions are," District 5 Councilor Kate Sykes said.
Sykes didn't respond to questions about what she meant by that.
"We've had some violent crime down there. We've had a couple of stabbings. We've had shots fired," Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois said.
Dubois says they've had a dedicated police detail to the area for years.
"We're working very closely with the district attorney's office to pursue any charges with people, say drinking in public or criminal trespassing," Dubois said.
Now, they're going to have four officers there instead of two.
The detail only goes from noon to 8 p.m. each day.
CBS13 Reporter Mal Meyer: "Do you think that will be enough?"
Mayor Mark Dion: "Well, I don't there are a quantifiable number of police officers or a list of totals of arrests that guarantees safety."
Dion says they have to take steps to address these issues.
"Our primary responsibility as a government is to promote, protect and enhance the safety of our residents. Period," Dion said.
Dion says police also have to be allowed to do their job.
"I will do what I can to advocate on behalf of the police department so the jail system, courts and prosecutors recognize that we're trying to exercise that primary duty of keeping our community safe, and we will look for them to partner with us so that we can apply appropriate consequence and outcomes of those taken into custody. Our residents deserve nothing less," Dion said.
Meyer: "How will you measure success?"
Dubois: "You know, this is a very complex issue."
Dubois says the police response is only one part of this.
"We need a little more enforcement from some of the providers down there," Dubois said.
In a statement, the non-profit Preble Street says it has been working with the city, police and other groups to find solutions.
"Service providers and outreach workers continue to invest considerable efforts to connect unsheltered people in our community to shelter and treatment, but the folks remaining on the street today have complex clinical presentations and have fallen through the cracks of every system available," Preble Street Vice President of Social Work Andrew Bove said.
They've increased efforts to clean up sidewalks daily, worked with police on a near daily basis to address any unsafe or illegal behavior and disperse crowds.
"This is a community problem and will take a community effort to solve," Bove said.