To the Editor:
If the buzzword on the Portsmouth City Council is efficiency, then they have much better places to look than the Portsmouth PD. A recent article in the Portsmouth Pulse is lacking and misleading. It makes several statements based on flawed assumptions when considering staffing needs at police departments.
The first flaw is that the size of a police department should be based solely on population. Portsmouth’s population is identified as 22,733 in 2023, which is the latest year of published crime data. Everyone in Portsmouth knows its population balloons in the summer and swells even further during the city’s multiple events. So comparing the number of officers required based solely on this low population number is inaccurate.
The second flaw is that the crime rate is not factored into the size of the department. If every city and town had the same crime rate, then it would be easy to compare data and adjust department size accordingly. Unfortunately criminals don’t think that way. The crime rate varies from town to town, city to city, and state to state. Crime rates also vary by time of year, the nature of the city and many other factors. If Manchester had no crime and based their PD size solely on population, would it really need 2.38 officers per 1,000 residents?
The article also points to “the virtually crime free streets of Portsmouth”. It’s a great perception to have, which means the PPD is doing its job. Public perception does factor into the size of a PD and its costs. If the perception is that Portsmouth is virtually crime free, doesn’t this mean it is staffed correctly? And if Portsmouth is perceived as safer than Dover or Manchester, don’t their respective PDs need more staffing? Perhaps the citizens of Portsmouth should just be more tolerant of crime when cuts are made.
Unfortunately, crime statistics reveal that Portsmouth is not virtually crime free. Just take a look at the data in the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Portsmouth’s average total crime rate over the last five years is 32% higher than the state average and 60% higher than Dover’s. Portsmouth’s average violent crime rate is 26% higher than the state average and 152% higher than Dover’s. Portsmouth’s crime rate balloons by 64% in the summer with the increase in population and tourists. Portsmouth is responding to more crime, especially violent crime, and processing those crimes has a cost. Given the variation in population, Portsmouth may be a donor town in more ways than just Education funding.
The Portsmouth PD also provides support in areas that other cities and towns may not have to support. Manchester is not next to a state line. Dover does not have an airport. Neither city has an international seaport or a bridge people like to frequently jump from. Portsmouth PD must coordinate with state and federal agencies to a different degree than other cities and towns in times of crisis.
I am hoping the new staffing study considers population, crime rate and these other factors as well. Processing crimes at the existing station is inadequate, inefficient and unhealthy. And as Portsmouth’s population and development as a destination continue, we need to plan for growth. Let’s give our men and women in blue the best tools and environment to work effectively and efficiently in keeping us safe.
Jim Fernald
Portsmouth NH
