Press Releases/What’s New

On Tuesday, October 26th, 2021, the Board of Police Commissioners voted unanimously to promote Officer Charley Raizes and Officer Matt Fredrickson to the Special Detail position of Detective assigned to the Investigative Division. Their appointment became effective immediately. 

Portsmouth City Manager Karen Conard and the City Emergency Management Team announce that, due to poor weather forecast for Oct 30,  Portsmouth children and families will be able to enjoy Halloween trick- or-treating on Sunday, October 31, 2021, from 3 to 6 pm. The addition of daylight hours was popular last year and is being repeated.

The City of Portsmouth Department of Public Works is planning to dig three five-foot, by five-foot, by five-foot “test pits” at Prescott Park this week, as part of the investigatory engineering required to implement the Prescott Park Master Plan. The work will be conducted in conjunction with a soils scientist designated by the project consultant Weston and Sampson Engineers and an archaeologist. The work will start at 9 am (weather-permitting) and the pits will be dug and filled in one work day.

Portsmouth City Manager Karen Conard announced October 20, 2021 that the City has selected Shanti Wolph as Chief Building Inspector to fill the post served by Acting Interim Chief Building Inspector Paul Garand for the past three months.

The Portsmouth Police Department will be joining the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other seacoast communities on the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, this Saturday, October 23rd, 2021 at the Portsmouth Police Department from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The event is being offered to the community to provide an opportunity to turn in prescription drugs which may be in your household and are no longer needed. The department will take pills, patches and liquid medicine. No needles or sharp items will be accepted.

In preparation for the refinancing of callable bonds, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the national rating agency, completed another municipal bond credit rating review last week. As a result of that review, Standard & Poor’s issued the tenth consecutive affirmation of the City’s AAA rating.

On October 18, 2021 at 12:23pm, the Portsmouth Police Department responded to the Citizens Bank on Pleasant St. in Portsmouth for a report of a possible fraud. Employees of Citizens Bank believed an illegitimate check was presented to them and contacted police. Investigating officers determined that a male attempted to cash a fraudulent check using a fake Massachusetts driver’s license. The male was taken into custody on-scene and brought to the Portsmouth Police Department for processing. The male was identified as:

EasyParkUSA has notified New Hampshire cities participating in its EasyPark program that the company has begun phasing out their on-dash devices. EasyParkUSA has already discontinued the sale of new devices, although existing customers will be able to continue to use their devices in any participating New Hampshire city, and use up any remaining balance on their accounts, until December 31, 2021.  At that time, all accounts will be closed and no further service fees will be charged.