Margery Niblock

Police Dispatch: Portland, Maine

The Portland Police Department’s dispatch center is on the third floor of headquarters at 109 Middle Street. It’s shocking to walk into that room, since the only available light comes from computer screens. Because the overhead lighting creates a glare on the screens, people find it more comfortable to work on their consoles in the dark atmosphere.

Each person who works in the room has a console with several monitors. Shavonne Shinay was handling calls as a 911 operator and was also the South Portland dispatcher this particular day. The word "multitasking" took on new meaning as the elements of Shinay’s job became evident. At her console were seven screens, two telephones, and a different mouse for each of three separate monitors.

The 911 calls answered by Shinay are entered into the computer system, which then filters each call into the proper dispatch screen. The calls are color-coded, according to seriousness, and they appear that way onscreen, with red being highest priority and blue second. Shinay says, "You never know what you’re going to get."

"Our room is filled and there is no growth room now," says Tom Cavanaugh, who has been Director of Communications for the police department since March 2010, and is in charge of the 37 dispatchers who work at Middle Street.

Cavanaugh stated, "There are 10 consoles and sometimes all 10 are full, now that we’re a consolidated dispatch center." This came about after a merger with Cape Elizabeth two years ago, and the addition of South Portland last year. The South Portland dispatchers physically came to Portland to work.

Everyone is being cross-trained now, so each person working in the area will be capable of handling any job there.

Cavanaugh has had 25 years in public safety. He was a deputy sheriff in California and then worked as a dispatcher in Salt Lake City, Utah, which had one of the first consolidated dispatch centers in the country. He worked for a public safety software vendor before coming to Portland with his family, and says, "They all love it here." And so does he.

Regarding employment in the dispatch center, Cavanaugh stated, "We want to get the most qualified people for the job," and it is not an easy job to handle. Police filling overtime shifts are sometimes assigned to the dispatch center, so they are familiar with both ends of the job. Sgt. Robert Doherty has great respect for the people in those positions. "There isn’t a more difficult task than that of our 911 operators," he says. "It’s a challenging job that’s recorded and scrutinized."

Those applying for the job have to take a two-hour computerized test, which has to do with multitasking and retention of information. A candidate also must be able to type 35 words per minute.

Training lasts three months for answering the phones before being able to work at that aspect of the job alone. Then it would be another three months for training to be a dispatcher for police or fire.

There is no average length of stay for the job. Some people have been here more than 20 years. Two men working that day had been on the job for 16 years and 17 years respectively. One said of the other: "He had hair when he started working here."

Bonnie Ray has been on the job for 23 years. "I love it," she says—"most days. It’s a tough job but you can have fun at it, and also help people."

In addition to their responsibilities for obtaining call information and dispatching the necessary resources for the specific situation, the telecommunicators are trained to give pre-arrival instructions when dealing with medical emergencies. They are trained to tell people how to give CPR, relay techniques to control bleeding, and even give childbirth instructions, if necessary, while reassuring those on the line that help is on the way.

It is a very stressful job, as is that of a police officer. "When you come in here—like an officer—you give up certain things," said Cavanaugh. The hours are not regular workday hours; you have to work weekends and holidays. And then there’s overtime.

Many people would welcome the extra bucks in their paychecks that overtime brings, but Cavanaugh says the biggest complaint of dispatchers relates to forced overtime. There is a minimum number of people that must be working at any one time, which can cause a problem if someone is off sick and that spot has to be covered. A little over half of the people work two eight-hour shifts and two twelve-hour shifts. The others work five eight-hour shifts.

Cheryl Brewster was in charge of the communications room that day and was also going to work an overtime shift, but she had no complaints pertaining to the extra hours.

Brewster has spent 11 ½ years as a dispatcher. She was the first dispatcher invited to join the police department’s peer support team, and is now a peer counselor.

There are times when a specific call may be so disturbing that counseling sessions may be called for.

Stress certainly plays a role in this job. Dispatchers feel very connected to the officers and feel responsible for their safety. There are also several dispatchers married to officers.

The department has a stress debriefing program, comprised of peer counseling from within, and an outside counselor might be called in under specific situations.

During the summer of 2011 there was a homicide that was described in extremely graphic terms during an upsetting phone call. Everyone involved in that call was required to engage in one counseling session. Peripheral people have a choice as to whether they want to be involved.

Brewster feels that having dispatchers participate in the debriefing process with the officers who were on the scene is very important. "It helps you to completely understand the situation."

April 8−14 has been designated National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. It honors the people who work in emergency dispatch centers and are the first people the public has contact with during times of crisis when calling 911.

These are the invisible heroes who keep the public safe by answering calls for service and maintaining the nervous system of the city by sending police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel to locations where their help is needed.

　

Kudos for Brenda

[Only the first name is being used for the subject of this article, at her request.]

Brenda was in her twenties when she began using drugs heavily. Crack cocaine was her drug of choice because it was the "in" thing and because of the high that it gave. She both used and sold drugs, saying, "I was a runner. I’m a drug felon." She continued, "I got four years and I served 32 months. It was terrible. I would never go back again!" Extending her arms outward, she exclaimed, "My rap sheet’s like this. I’m not proud of it."

When asked whether it was the money for drugs that caused her to become a prostitute, she stated that she’d been a prostitute before her use of drugs began.

For a period of time she had a pimp. But after a while she realized that he wasn’t doing anything for her except taking her money, so she parted company with the man. Then she says, "I started doing it just for me."

A terrifying experience made Brenda realize just how dangerous things could get. She had relied on her instincts regarding her "clients." On one occasion she got into a vehicle with a man who "was talking nice to me and all that." After he’d driven for a distance much longer than Brenda thought was necessary, he pulled out a gun. He held her at gunpoint, kidnapped her, took her to Dayton, Maine, and raped her. After the attack he threw her out of the car and told her to walk back.

There was no particular time of day or evening when Brenda worked. She said, "Whenever I needed money I went out. I never knew when the end of a working day was going to be, but I could honestly say I was out there probably every day." Condoms were always used, as a precaution against pregnancy and disease.

This was the era before cell phones, but there were pagers then, and Brenda had one of those. She had "regulars" who could call her. "I was very choosy with my regulars. Trust me on that."

Her routine was to get money from hustling, then go to the dealer, get the drugs, use them, and then go back out on the street. "That became a pattern," says Brenda.

She was arrested numerous times for prostitution, spending some overnights in jail, but mostly paying fines. "I’d get picked up, fined, and be back on the street to make the money to pay the fine."

Brenda’s favorite corner was Cumberland Avenue and Mellon Street. She laughingly talks about one of the officers who used to see her a lot in Parkside. He’d say "Brenda, you’re making the neighborhood look bad. Please move along."

Brenda and many of the cops who arrested her years ago now have quite a friendly relationship, with their conversations interspersed with a lot of humor. She said "They’ve seen that I’ve become a respected member of the community." When several of them began to patronize the store where she worked, they asked her: "You’re not going to spit in our food, are you?"

The people who arrested her years ago are now very proud of her. They don’t see too many success stories in their daily routines and they get a big kick out of Brenda the Mommy.

She says "I don’t hold no grudges. They were doing their jobs just like I had to do mine." Brenda said, "It took me having a baby to turn my life around." This was a baby she very much wanted to have. And she didn’t want to lose this one because of her lifestyle. Brenda, who was one of 13 children, basically has no memory of her childhood. She was in foster care and adopted at age three. At 16 she went back to her biological mother and that was also when she began to sell herself on the streets.

Brenda’s first daughter was taken away from her by DHHS. She is now 27. Brenda says, "Since I got off drugs I have a relationship with her."

Brenda had been in and out of rehab more than once. "I wanted to get off drugs," she says, "but I wasn’t ready until I got pregnant."

At age 43 Brenda was pregnant for the second time. "I wanted this baby," she said. It was my ‘way out.’" She went to Crossroads, in Windham, which she said is a very good program. She was an inpatient at the facility. It was there that she weaned herself off the drugs. "It took me having a baby to turn my life around."

That baby, Gigi, is now a beautiful four-year-old. "We all love Gigi," says Mary-Ellen Welch. "She’s the neighborhood child." There are photos of Brenda and Gigi posted in the Midtown Community Policing Center, of which Welch is the Community Policing Coordinator. Welch refers to Brenda as a "spitfire." She says, "She tells it like it is." Welch remembers seeing Brenda wheeling her baby around the neighborhood and says she was always impressed with the obvious care and love that was showered on the child. "She always looked beautiful, clean, and happy," says Welch. And she had seen too many babies that didn’t fall into that category when she had been a caseworker at DHHS in the Child Protective Division.

Senior Lead Officer Dan Knight also has a desk in the Midtown office and it serves as his base of operations. He does a lot of patrolling around the Bayside neighborhood on his bicycle, which is often seen parked right out front.

Knight is very proud of Brenda’s accomplishments and enjoys when she brings Gigi in to say hello. He said of his former interactions with Brenda, "She was one of the most challenging persons I’ve dealt with in my career." Knight sees Brenda almost every day that he works. "We have a friendly relationship, and I’m so happy to see where Brenda is now."

[Mary-Ellen Welch and Senior Lead Officer Dan Knight]

David Norberg owns Dyer’s Variety on Portland Street. He is Brenda’s employer and also rents an apartment to her in one of his nearby buildings. He said, "She keeps her place immaculate. She works for me also and is very reliable."

Brenda lives in a neighborhood where drugs are all around her. She says, "Sometimes I’ll see people doing drug deals and I flip out. I saw a deal right in front of my daughter’s day care recently, and I yelled at them." They said they were just exchanging vitamins. Brenda said to them "Vitamins aren’t blue!"

She knows what’s going on in the neighborhood, who’s dealing, who’s buying, who’s using. But this is where Brenda lives. She says, "I’d like to move but it’s close to work and Gigi’s day care."

"I know I’ve come from where they’re at and I don’t judge them."

Brenda knows what she wants for her daughter: "I want her to have an education. I want her to have a good job."

Brenda now has a large support group of friends she can count on. Her longtime friend Bobby and his cousin Mike are part of this group, and they serve as beloved uncles to Brenda’s little girl. Brenda says, "They’ll babysit for Gigi. She loves them!"

Looking back at her former life, Brenda says, "I’d never want to go back. I like what I have now. Now I got a job, a license, a car, and money in the bank." And she has her precious daughter, the most important part of her new life.

When asked if she has any advice to pass along to people who are in the position she used to be in, she says, "Get out when you can. You could be dead, or in jail. If you’re into it, get out!"

 

Unsolved missing person case still haunts Portland detectives

 

 

On March 17, 1996, Officer Dean Goodale, now a Detective Sergeant in charge of crimes against property, took a report of a missing person at the Portland Police Department’s front desk.

Archie Tevanian was reporting the disappearance of his 65-year-old wife, Margaret, whom he had discovered was not in the house when he looked for her at 7 a.m. that morning.

Margaret Tevanian was described as weighing 110 pounds, five feet three inches tall, with brown eyes, and shoulder-length gray hair.

When she was last seen she had been wearing a white housecoat, pajamas, a blue kerchief, and brown shoes.

According to family reports, she was suffering from mental illness and hadn’t left the house for several months. Margaret Tevanian had graduated from nursing school as a young woman. She lived in the family home at 50 Cedar Street with her husband and her son Robert, who was 31 at the time. A daughter Laura was married and not living at that address, but another daughter Robin, who had a disability, lived next door with Archie’s brother Leon, his wife Mary, and Mary’s sister. Cedar Street is in Bayside, in the center of Portland’s busy peninsula.

Mary Tevanian had made dinner the night before, at 44 Cedar Street, where Archie had eaten with his relatives, before taking food home for Margaret. Archie’s primary responsibility was taking care of his wife at that time, and Archie and Margaret had been married for over 30 years.

Margaret Tevanian had wandered away from her house on several occasions, when she had been found in Deering Oaks, the area around the post office on Forest Avenue, and Franklin Towers.

As of 5:17 p.m. on that Saint Patrick’s Day in 1996, Margaret Tevanian was officially listed as missing with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The NCIC is referred to as "the lifeline of law enforcement." It is an electronic clearinghouse of crime data that all agencies nationwide are able to use at all times.

The next day the case was assigned to a detective. A meeting with the family was held and the preliminary investigation began.

Police did a lot of interviews; they knocked on doors and spoke with neighbors, but did not determine any significant leads as to the whereabouts of Mrs. Tevanian.

Archie Tevanian died June 30, 1996, just three months after his wife’s mysterious disappearance. He had difficulty breathing and collapsed while at home with his son, suffering possible cardiac arrest. After being transported to a hospital, he didn’t recover. He was 72 at the time.

In July 2002, Detective Paul Murphy was assigned the case and has had it ever since that point. Murphy stated that the police department got Mrs. Tevanian’s dental records and that the Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta has duplicates of all physical evidence.

Police received consent to search the Cedar Street home and nothing out of the ordinary was discovered.

In March 2003 Murphy said a group of detectives began working on some old cases. Each group had seven or eight detectives with one of them serving as a primary. There was also an evidence technician assigned to each group. "We were able to go back and speak with previous investigators," said Murphy.

In May 2003 Detective Murphy asked Robert Tevanian if he would give permission for dogs to be brought to the home, which he allowed. Murphy said Robert Tevanian was "very receptive" to the dogs and he was disturbed that his father wasn’t able to live to see closure to the case. Murphy said "It was one more angle, one more way to possibly develop a lead. It didn’t give us anything else to work on." He stated that he said to Robert Tevanian: "We are using whatever methods are available to us—so many years later—to do whatever we can to solve your mother’s disappearance."

Two dogs from the Medical Examiner’s Office were used, human remains detection dogs, sometimes referred to as "cadaver dogs."

Murphy said "Robert Tevanian was always friendly, cooperative, and appreciative." He continued, "The lack of investigative leads makes it difficult to find a direction."

Commander Vern Malloch was the lieutenant in charge of the detective division in 1996 and he remembers the case because of its unusual aspects. He stated "There was no sighting of her ever. The question we’ve struggled with is whether or not there was foul play involved, and we’ve never been able to say definitively one way or the other."

Malloch said the presumption of the police department is that she’s dead. He said "The likelihood of her being alive is pretty remote, due to her age, and the fact she’s had no contact with family or friends."

On April 23, 2004, Judge William Childs signed an order declaring Margaret Tevanian deceased.

However, it is still an active missing person case to the Portland Police Department, which has spent so many hours over the years, working to try to solve this disappearance.

Murder of Patrolman Michael T. Connolly—Still a Mystery

Since the establishment of the Portland Police Department in 1848 two officers were killed during the performance of their duties. The first member of the department to die that way was Charles E. McIntosh, in 1915, when he was shot and stabbed by two felons who were apprehended later.

The second was Patrolman Michael T. Connolly, and the 81-year-old mystery of his death remains unsolved. Whoever killed Officer Michael T. Connolly literally got away with murder.

Connolly’s lifeless body was found not far from "a sinister squatters’ colony beneath the brow of Eastern Promenade . . . near Fish Point." That grim discovery was made on the morning of August 15, 1930, and bold headlines to that effect emblazoned the first page of that day’s Portland Evening Express.

       [Michael T. Connolly]

Longshoreman John Lee discovered the body in the sand while gathering driftwood on the beach at about 8:15 a.m. Connolly was lying face down and had been shackled with his own handcuffs. The officer’s fully-loaded service revolver was in his right-hand pants pocket, raising many questions. According to newspaper accounts, Connolly’s gun holster was carried on his left hip because he was left-handed.

Patrolman Connolly was considered to be "an efficient and faithful officer," and was described as having a strong physique, weighing approximately 190 pounds. He left behind his wife Mary N. Connolly and five minor children, James, Edward, Catherine, Margaret, and John, ranging in age from 3 to 11.

The autopsy verdict was cause of death due to drowning, with no marks of violence on Connolly’s body. There was an embarrassing delay before the arrival of a medical examiner, causing strong criticism by police and County officials, as reported in the paper that day. It was more than three hours before a medical examiner came to the scene. There had been a "drenching rain" during that period of time. The medical examiner concluded that the officer was alive when thrown into the water.

Officer Connolly’s key for pulling the call boxes was around his neck on a string, but his uniform hat was missing. Connolly’s watch stopped at 4:07. He had called headquarters from a box at Congress and Mountfort at 5:09, and the time for him to pull the next box on his foot beat would have been at 6:07 at India and Commercial Streets.

Fifty-one new call boxes had been placed throughout the city in the early 1920s, replacing the old ones from the late 1800s. There was a phone inside each box, allowing officers to speak directly to police headquarters, located at 132 Federal Street at that time. After making an arrest, prisoners were walked to the closest call box. The boxes had two keyholes, with the one on top marked as "wagon call," used when an arrest was made. Headquarters would then send a wagon to that location. Officers also left notes in these boxes at the ends of their shifts, to alert the next person on duty to any special circumstances that might warrant their attention. The use of call boxes ended in 1972.

There was a 15-minute grace period allowed to officers in pulling boxes, so police began searching for Officer Connolly around 6:25.

Connolly had been appointed to the force in 1918. For many years he had patrolled along the Western Promenade, but six weeks prior local beats were changed and he was assigned to the Eastern Promenade area.

There were several possible theories involving bootleggers bringing in a shipment of liquor. The County Attorney ordered police to question all sailors from three battle cruisers that were docked in the harbor who may have gone ashore overnight.

This was the era of Prohibition, with smuggling of alcohol was big business, and many bootleggers’ boats carrying the illegal cargo pulled in near the shore of the city’s East End to unload their goods. The docks and warehouses on Portland’s waterfront held many secrets during that era.

Connolly’s badge number 71 was officially retired shortly after the tragic incident.

On June 28, 1985, a ceremony was held to celebrate the christening of a new police boat, the Michael T. Connolly. A rendition of that badge was painted on the vessel’s side. Numerous Connolly family members were in attendance, along with Senator George J. Mitchell, Police Chief Francis Amoroso, and Mayor Joseph D. Casale. The 31-foot boat served the department until August 1, 1992, when it was retired from service. The department never has gotten another boat.

Evidence technician Kevin MacDonald, who has been in that job longer than anyone else in the unit, stated "Water complicates things due to rinsing effect." He said under the circumstances that existed on that particular rainy day, and a body that had been immersed in water for many hours, "the transfer of hairs and fibers would be much less likely."

MacDonald stated "If it happened today, we’d take the handcuffs, swab for DNA, and check for fingerprints." He also felt there might be some significance connected to the officer’s missing hat, which was never found. "A lot of times guys would keep papers and information in their hats," noted MacDonald.

Sadly, this remains a cold case that the passage of time has not helped to solve.

*****************************************************************************************************

Suzan Roberts Norton did a great deal of research, which is on her Web site, likes2write.

Occupy Maine

Acid bomb hurled at Occupy Maine site

The quiet in Lincoln Park was shattered about 4 a.m. Sunday morning when an acid bomb exploded after being hurled into the site where Occupy Maine protesters have been encamped in numerous tents for the past couple of weeks.

A man who identified himself as Josh said he was awake at the time, and he saw and heard the explosion. The device was thrown from a four-door silver car heading east on Congress Street. Josh is 30 and is from Portland; he’s been homeless for about three months. He is a member of the group’s "deescalation team," which provides security to the members. Josh wouldn’t state how many members patrol at any one time, but he said they patrol 24 hours a day and "step it up after midnight," with the purpose of trying to keep things safe.

Stephanie Wilburn was cooking lunch in the park on Sunday a little before noon. She was up when the early-morning incident took place. Wilburn came to the camp a week ago from the Dover-Foxcroft area to participate in the demonstrations, and says she is homeless.

Wilburn said the explosion occurred about 15 feet from the fence surrounding the park and she was about 10 feet from where it landed. A popular soft-drink container was the vehicle used for the acid bomb. Since there are propane tanks in the park, her main concern was worrying that they might explode.

[Stephanie Wilburn, cooking lunch at the Occupy Maine encampment in Lincoln Park, on 10/23/11.]

Police were called and were at the park within a couple of minutes, according to Wilburn. She said they were very courteous and asked if she wanted to go to a hospital, since her ears were bothering her at that point. They took the container with them.

Acting Chief Michael Sauschuck said the explosion was heard in the police station by the people on duty overnight. That’s almost two blocks away.

Sauschuck said that officers heard an explosion in the West End of the city earlier. He continued, "That leads us to believe Occupy Maine wasn’t specifically targeted." He feels this event "is not a pattern or trend expected to continue." But he says police will be giving "special attention" to the area.

Detectives will be working on the case as an ongoing investigation.

Hurray! It's May.

I Still LOVE Frogs!

I was given this wonderful leather frog the other day by a handsome man that I've known since I've been in Portland. I don't see him very often anymore, but it's always a pleasure to run into him, especially when he has a delightful gift like this for me. 

 
The poor thing only has one eye! I'm very forthcoming and that's why I mentioned it. There's no way you would have known that if I hadn't told you.

I'm going to look for a black bead that size so I can insert it into the other eye socket. Even though I have the frog facing to the right and sitting on a shelf in that position, it bothers me to know that one eye isn't there. But that's an easy fix!

New Vespa

 
How snazzy is that? It's Michael Quint's brand-new Vespa. That's something he's desired for a long time. And he got it a few weeks ago. It's a real gem and he says he gets about 80 miles to a gallon. That sounds pretty amazing and is a great plus these days.

 Here's the proud owner with his little red cycle.

It was parked in front of Colucci's, where Michael works on Sundays. I always make sure I stop in to say hello to him when I'm taking my walk. It's fun to catch up on a weekly basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neighbors

 

Here's Lucy in a very clean state. The last time you saw this adorable creature she was in the process of being cleaned up while sitting on her mistress's lap on the front steps.

Kate, who lives on the second floor of Lucy's building, had taken Lucy for a walk on a lovely Saturday. I admired Kate's beautiful bag and asked whether she'd made it. She had, and she told me it was knitted and then felted.
It looks beautiful here, but even more so when it's seen in person.

It's so neat having such nice neighbors. I really appreciate friendly people.

Kate and I discussed the fact that we'd both just taken photographs of the same sign that had been written by a child.

It's been a while since I've seen a sign worthy of photographing.

 

 

Please! Do not Pik our flowrs.

 

What a great sign! It's very direct and right on target. It also has some instructions for those who have dogs.

I enjoy seeing signs like this that have been put up by children. They have unbeatable charm.

April Fool

Love in the Street (of All Places)

 

I'll take love wherever I can find it. Today I found "love" in the street. Of course I had to bring this love home. I've hung it in a kitchen window, where I can enjoy seeing it.

My New Dog

 
This is Rover, my new dog. He's very easy to care for. Quiet; obedient; doesn't require food or walking; the best kind of dog for me.

I have him sitting and looking at the gas fireplace. He seems to find this location a pleasing one. He can watch the flames. And when there's no fire going he likes to watch the pilot light. We're getting along very well. We're both happy. And he doesn't take up too much space.

Snowstorm April 1

 

So what if it's April? So what difference does one more snowstorm make in Maine?

No big deal! Today is the third of April and it's almost all gone. Yesterday and today the temperature was in the 40s so the snow is melting very quickly.

Lucy

 
 
She's a bit dirty, after getting into something she wasn't supposed to be near. But you can tell that she's a cute dog, I'm sure. Lucy has a great personality and she loves to fetch. She's really good at that.

She was given a haircut a couple of Saturdays ago—for the warmer season coming up. I was outside chatting with Alice, who was giving the cut.

I sat down on one of the steps and when I got up Alice informed me that I had a new appendage, which was made of dog hair. And this is what it looked like.

So here's what I'd look like if I had a tail. Somehow, we managed to get it all off. But I was glad that I didn't have to attend some formal gathering right then.

So fluffy!

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Trash Again

I'm sure those of you who follow this blog might remember the stolen trash bags given mention this past winter.

I never discovered who was taking them but that was all right. It didn't press on my brain at all. But—now my brain is being pressed. So I have to tell you the latest event.

A couple of weeks ago I put out a trash bag at 5:30 p.m., the evening before pickup. I'd taken my foot and stepped onto the bag to consolidate its contents. I did this a couple of times before putting the twist tie around its neck.

I must tell you that the joke is definitely on me! As I was placing the trash bag on the sidewalk, I thought: "I don't have to even consider that anyone might want this bag of trash because it's filled to   capacity. Ha!"

I'm always one to admit when I'm wrong, and I couldn't have been more wrong when I had that thought. The next morning when I opened the door to bring my newspaper in I saw this sign in place of where my trash had been.

 

The sign was nailed to a piece of wood, which was stuck into the dirt right next to the tree near the curb (which was where the bag had been).

Look at how artistically this sign has been done. And someone obviously went to an awful lot of trouble to cut these letters out of magaziness. I am especially fond of the exclamation point! So cleverly done!

I have no idea who might have done this. I'd love to know though. I'm going to make a color Xerox of this sign and then I'll put it back in the same spot, with a little message.

So stay tuned, as they say. This is a fun mystery!

This week I put out a message taped onto a color Xerox of the sign. It said "For what?"

 
The morning after I'd set out the trash and the sign, guess what? The sign had been removed. But nothing was left in its place.

No message. Nothing.

 

The sign was gone. The metal piece the sign was attached to was gone. And the mystery continues.

Bicycle Bread? What's with That?

 

It was a perfectly delicious looking bread, just resting across the bikes that were locked to a pole on Sheridan Street, right outside my editor's apartment building. Seeing things like this, does make you wonder. There are numerous questions I might ask, but I won't burden you with those. I'm sure you'll have your own.

 Two days later, this is what I saw at the corner of the same street. Bird food! Smashed bird food!

 

Preble Street Problems

 

Preble Street—Hot Spot for Drugs

There’s a lot going on at the Preble Street Resource Center but not all of it is positive.

Police concern for public safety in the area surrounding Bayside’s underbelly has evidenced itself in a critical memorandum from Commander Vern Malloch to City Council’s Public Safety Committee. He states their "low-barrier philosophy . . . has inadvertently and unintentionally created a dangerous environment," that the policy has put everyone at risk, including the population served by the Resource Center. Specifically cited in the memorandum is "drug trafficking . . . in and around the day shelter and soup kitchen."

Many clients patronizing the center agree with the police assessment of the situation at Preble Street, giving credence to the idea that drugs are a pervasive problem.

One of them is Joe T., a man in his late thirties, who says that to those involved in the illegal drug market, the Preble Street Resource Center is known as the "Preble Street Pharmacy" and the Soup Kitchen is called "Preble Street Garden," comparing it to the Olive Garden restaurant. Joe is very familiar with both of these Portland scenes, since he has used them for several years. He says Preble Street is a "hot spot for drugs," that when people are calling one another on their cell phones to set up drug transactions they’ll make arrangements to meet at either the "Pharmacy" or the "Garden." "Preble Street is the drug market of Portland," he concluded.

His feelings regarding workers are: "They are enabling. Staff don’t care."

Dorothy F., in her mid-thirties, has spent a lot of time in the day shelter. She claims that there are certain areas of the room where specific drugs are sold and that this is common knowledge for people availing themselves of the services Preble Street offers.

Suboxone has become the drug of choice lately in this arena, a drug approved for use in opiate addiction therapy. It is prescribed by physicians and is susceptible to abuse, becoming a problem in Portland because of its popularity among the drug-using population. It can be ingested, ground up and snorted, or used with a "rig" for shooting up. Some teenagers crush the pills into powder, and have then become infected from dirty needles, and contracted Hepatitis C after shooting up.

Patrick G. has only frequented Preble Street for drugs, not for services. He is an eighteen-year-old who lives with his mother and has recently begun treatment for his addiction to Suboxone.

"I was on Suboxone for three years, between ages fourteen and seventeen. When I started, it was $4 a pill. Last year it was $10, and now it’s between $15 and $20. It’s like an epidemic. If you’d go down to Preble Street now there will be more people looking for Suboxone than eating in the soup kitchen."

Patrick said "In the morning the first place junkies go is the soup kitchen to look for drugs. That’s the hot spot."

He says that when he was looking for pills in the courtyard only once in a great while would someone working for Preble Street hassle him. "Sellers would say, ‘Hey, come around back.’ More often than not, I’d be approached by someone wanting to sell me an illegal drug."

Patrick understands that the staff is overworked, but said "They need to control the people that are in there. They’re not doing a good job. It’s almost as though the workers there don’t care. I’ve bought stuff right in front of them. They know what’s going on. I think they’ve just seen so much."

He feels that staff and patrols should be increased. "I’d walk around and ask for what I wanted. If I had drugs to sell, I’d be discreet but I made sales right in front of staff."

There are those who sell their pills after getting them. Many times people will file false claims to police saying their prescriptions have been stolen. If they have a police report they are able to get another prescription. The police are on to this ruse and don’t provide reports merely because one is requested.

In December 2010 the City of Portland’s Family Shelter stated that there had been multiple reports of families selling, stealing, and abusing Suboxone at the shelter. Evictions of several families resulted.

Another area of concern is the liberality of physicians prescribing the drug and doing so without requiring a counseling component. Some doctors prescribe 90 days’ worth of Suboxone in this manner.

Police working in peninsula neighborhoods are very familiar with this drug.

Officer Bob Pelletier says "Suboxone seems to be the drug of choice. Of the people I deal with, everyone is on Suboxone."

Several incidents involving Preble Street and Suboxone have occurred within the past couple of months.

Officer Dan Rose was parked in a lot on Portland Street when he noticed a male he knew to be a small-time drug dealer exit the center. Then he saw a hand-to-hand transaction with a juvenile just outside the courtyard. The juvenile was stopped and admitted he’d just purchased Suboxone from the man.

Officer Daniel L. Knight, the Senior Lead Officer for the Midtown and Old Port sections of the city, works out of an office on Portland Street, less than a block from Preble Street. He has made recent arrests there involving Suboxone. One was a man arrested on outstanding warrants who had Suboxone in his possession when apprehended and the other involved a man and woman who had wheeled a 16-month-old baby down to the center from Allen Avenue and were arrested when they were either trying to buy or sell drugs. Both people had Suboxone on them, but had no prescription for the drug.

According to police, users don’t see it as a street drug like heroin or crack cocaine; they feel there’s no stigma attached to it because it’s "medication."

Jon Bradley is the Assistant Director of Preble Street. When told that many people have the perception that Preble Street doesn’t do anything about illicit drug dealing on their premises, he stated "It is a MISperception!"

"All workers are trained to look for and address issues related to drugs." Bradley said "Police are always allowed in." He says police are asked to be available on the days people receive their checks and police are paid to be at the soup kitchen location at dinnertime because they’re trying to make that a safer time for people.

"We can’t be responsible for everyone in the center and out on the street. These are complicated issues and we all have to work on them together. We take all concerns seriously."

Bradley said that people are told they cannot exchange money and if money or pills are seen that is an infraction of the rules. He says there are challenges to being able to see tiny substances such as crack cocaine or Suboxone pills being passed from one person to another.

"We’ve done a lot of work with the police over the years." A policy whereby people’s services are suspended has been developed with the Police Department, and formal notice is given to people for specific periods of time, with conditions of the suspension spelled out on the paperwork. This is the step before a criminal trespass order is given to someone, the timeline of which is a one-year period. "One hundred and sixty-three people have been banned for some period of time this past year, mostly for drugs," said Bradley.

He stated that Preble Street has its drug policy posted inside and outside in both English and Spanish. Restrictions are specified for infractions of rules pertaining to illegal drug use and dealing on-site. However, based on many of their clients’ assessments, the reality doesn’t seem to match that policy.

There may also be a lack of clarity for the drug policy because drug possession isn’t mentioned at all. The infractions listed for enforcement pertaining to illegal drugs are: use or suspected use; involvement or suspicion of exchange or solicitation; talking about drugs or drug use. Nowhere does it mention that bringing drugs onto the premises is not allowed. Police think this should be added to the stated policy. They also feel that installation of video cameras would help curtail illegal activity.

This reporter took a slow walk through the center’s day shelter and did find these drug policies posted, but was questioned by a client when looking for the notices. He scoffed when told the purpose of the search.

He identified himself as Cody J., and said "Why bother? It’s a waste of paper! I sit here and see things all the time. If you don’t get caught, you’re doing good."

Cody’s advice was "If you ever want drugs, come to Preble Street."

 

 

 

 

New Team in K-9 Unit

 

Officer Tom Reagan, at age 31, will mark his sixth anniversary with the Portland Police Department in mid-August. Reagan is a member of the K-9 Unit and is anticipating his dog Trixie’s certification by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) some time in April after a 10-day training period with one of their handlers. Then Trixie will be able to officially work as an explosives detection dog here in Portland. After that there will be a yearly evaluation, when the trainer and Reagan will do scenarios at the airport, bus station, and other areas.

Tom Reagan always had an interest in dogs and had a German shepherd while growing up. Sergeant Rob Johnsey became a mentor and also a good friend, and Reagan expressed an interest in becoming a member of the canine unit. Johnsey said he’d help him achieve that goal. Johnsey had been a canine officer before being promoted to sergeant.

 
                    [Sergeant Rob Johnsey]

Rob Johnsey suffered a tragic death in May of 2008 at age 37, after an accidental discharge of his service weapon, leaving his wife, two children, and a grief-stricken department to cope with his loss.

Reagan didn’t swerve from his goal to be a canine officer and was able to join the canine unit when an opening became available. Since the loss of Sergeant Johnsey, Reagan has become like a big brother to Johnsey’s son A. J., who just celebrated his 14th birthday. They spend time together on a regular basis.

Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio is where Reagan was sent for his specialized training course, which lasted for 10 weeks. He went down last fall and returned around

Christmas. This is where dogs are trained for military work and the Department of Defense training school is there.

Technically, the U.S. government owns Trixie, through a Homeland Security grant given to our police department by the Department of Defense.

The TSA canine programbrings experienced canines to airports. TSA sponsors different teams around the nation. The official name of the program is TSA’s National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program.

According to the TSA Web site, "training includes search techniques for aircraft, baggage, vehicles and transportation structures, as well as procedures for identifying dangerous materials and ‘alerting’ or letting the handler know when these materials are present."

At Lackland there are airplanes, two railroad cars, and warehouses that are set up as training laboratories. There’s also a giant car lot with hundreds of cars and buses used for training. In part of the facility there’s an area that looks like an airport terminal.

The Texas training pertained to dog health and handling of explosives and consisted of the various search techniques for finding the explosives.

Handlers try to match the dog to the personality and home life of the person who will be working with the animal.

Buddy was the first dog that Reagan had in Texas but that situation didn’t work out since Buddy had "environmental issues, being too timid and skittish." Reagan says "If you raised your hand, he’d duck. They were afraid he might become a fear biter."

Then Trixie was assigned to Reagan. Trixie is two years old; part Belgian Malinois and part German shepherd. She came from the Netherlands and she’s a small dog. Reagan says: "Trixie is playful, isn’t aggressive to people, and has a soft bite. She’s a good dog for bomb work because she has a good play drive, and is reward-oriented." Her favorite toy (a Kong) which is a piece of hard black rubber, is shaped like a thick round bone, that’s attached to a heavy cord. Playing with the Kong is Trixie’s reward for locating an odor that she’s been asked to find. During a workout on airport property she was allowed to sniff an explosive substance, which was then hidden in a field quite a distance away. She found it! The names of the explosive materials that the dogs deal with are not mentioned because that’s "classified information." When the dog detects the highest concentration of the explosive odor present, the animal indicates this find by sitting.

 

                          [Officer Tom Reagan and Trixie]

Trixie has been going through a familiarization and acclimatization process since coming to Portland with Reagan. She now lives with him at his condo, which is a very different type of setting than the kennel she had dwelled in all her life. Reagan says "Trixie is getting used to her home environment." Trixie is a multimodal dog and she’ll work the waterfront, train and bus stations, and the airport.

Quite visible, if you happen to look up to the ceiling of Officer Reagan’s police car, slipped under a light fixture, is a laminated newspaper clipping. It’s a loving gesture by Tom Reagan that was placed in memoriam to the sergeant who is "gone but never forgotten."

He would be quite proud of the young police officer whom he nurtured, who is now spending time with his son, and becoming an integral part of Portland’s K-9 team.

 

 

 

Memorial Walk Becomes Fund-Raiser

 

                         [Paul Lauzier]

Paul Lauzier will begin a memorial walk on March 9, from St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, the date of his daughter Tina’s birthday. Tina was born in that hospital 44 years ago. Lauzier’s destination will be the home of his son who lives in Sebastian, Florida, which is 1,505 miles away, according to his calculations. He also plans on walking back to Maine and Portland will be his finishing point, intending to arrive here on August 6, the day his daughter jumped to her death from the Casco Bay Bridge in 2010.

Lauzier says "Tina belonged to Amistad," the agency in Portland that helps people suffering from mental illness. Amistad held a fund-raising breakfast on Thursday, February 10, to kick off the walk. They raised $600 that morning. Lauzier plans to donate the money collected along his walk to three organizations: the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, and the American Cancer Society. All of these agencies were closely involved with the women in Paul Lauzier’s life; his mother had Alzheimer’s; his first wife died of cancer; and his daughter battled mental illness.

Tina Lauzier attempted suicide previously by jumping from the old Million Dollar Bridge in 1996. Amazingly, she survived that fall. But she couldn’t win the battle with her mental illness.

Officer Daniel Knight had talked her out of jumping from the Casco Bay Bridge only one month previous to her fatal jump. Sadly, he was also one of the officers who responded to the call when a woman walking a dog saw a body under the bridge.

Paul Lauzier, who will turn 67 soon, is hoping to walk approximately 30 miles a day and he’s anxious to get started.