Pubdate: Sun, 09 Sep 2007
Source: Concord Monitor (NH)
Copyright: 2007 Monitor Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.concordmonitor.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/767
Author: Ray Duckler

THE PROBLEM WITH PITTSFIELD

Residents Raise Alarm About Drug Dealers; Town Works To Respond

Priscilla Lemieux enjoys a smoke before bed, usually  around 11 p.m.
But she doesn't enjoy the activity she  sometimes sees at that time,
across the alley from her  apartment. She sees cars coming and going,
never  staying long enough for a cup of coffee, and she says  she
knows what's happening.

She's seen drugs and money exchange hands.

"Right over there," Lemieux said recently, pointing out  her living
room window.

"There are cars going in and out of there all the time,  and they're
only stopping by for a minute or two," she  said. "You're not stupid.
I'm a recovering drug addict.  I know what to look for, and I know
what I see."

Lemieux, 28, and others in the area say they've  witnessed young
people, perhaps in their late teens,  maybe their early 20s,
conducting drug transactions on  downtown streets. They occur near
businesses and  apartment buildings, a few hundred yards from the
police station.

"I know this is happening," Lemieux said. "I keep close  to the
streets in this town. I live right downtown, and  I have acquaintances
who hear stuff and see stuff, and  I see stuff personally. It's pretty
much common  knowledge in this town."

Residents say the problem is not as blatant as it once  was. Not since
the town held a meeting last month to  discuss how to combat the
problem. And not since a  petition was circulated by Larry Berube,
who's owned  Zoya's restaurant, in the town's center, the past 4
years.

"It was out in the open, but now that I've started  this, It's gone
back under," Berube said. "You know  it's out there, though."

Berube is in the center of the storm. Just hours after  he submitted
his petition to the town administrator  last month, his 11-year-old
son's bedroom window was  smashed sometime after 1 a.m.

"My wife thought she heard something," Berube said,  seated in his
empty restaurant last week, shortly after  closing. "We looked outside
and didn't see anything.  The next morning we got up and the window
was broke."

Berube, 48, looked defeated. He said his restaurant and  home, a
half-mile away, have been vandalized 13 times  since he began his
crusade to clean up the town. There  have been no arrests.

He walked past empty booths in his restaurant and past  the kitchen
grill that hadn't been cleaned yet from a  day's worth of cooking.

He pointed to the back door that had a black swastika  drawn on it. He
said his front window had one also, but  it came off with window
cleaner. He said a screen at  his house had been slashed.

"Pittsfield's a good town," Berube said. "I like living  in
Pittsfield. There's good and bad points. It's a  beautiful town. But
the last year-and-a-half, it's  gotten out of control."

Paul Rogers, 39, is a lifelong resident. He owns the  video store and
hair salon, housed in the same  building, on Main Street. There are
apartments  upstairs.

"I would see people coming and going, coming and going,  coming and
going," Rogers said. "I said to the (police)  chief, 'On many
occasions I see this going on, why  can't we put a surveillance camera
there? Why can't we  do something?' To appease me from time to time he
would  just say, 'Oh yeah, yeah, we'll do something.' Well,  nothing
ever came about from it."

Just up Main Street, near the green banners on light  posts that read,
"Welcome to historic Pittsfield," is  the police department, where
Chief Robert Wharem has  been forced to defend himself and his
department  recently. Rogers and Berube claim the police haven't  been
aggressive enough against the dealers they say are  taking over the
town.

Wharem said the town's drug problem is no different  than other areas.
He said Pittsfield's congested nature  - 600 apartments in a small
area - make it easy for  merchants and neighbors to detect buying and
selling.

"That in and of itself draws inner-city problems,"  Wharem said. "What
happens is these individuals see  stuff that makes them believe that
it's more rampant  than it was before, which is not the case. . . . I
believe what they're seeing is it's more visible than  it was two years ago."

Wharem also said that with just a full-time chief and  one full-time
detective, coupled with limited financial  resources, the police can't
be everywhere all the time  and can't purchase the necessary
equipment. Dealers see  a cruiser and quickly cover their tracks.

To prove his point, he drove his cruiser through town.  "This lady,
what is she doing?" he said. "How do we  know? We can't be judgmental
without a reason. We have  to see in three minutes what (residents)
have all day  to see."

Meanwhile, Pittsfield continues to battle drugs and  blows to its
reputation. Past events, like vandalism in  the town cemetery and a
violent act in which a  Pittsfield Middle-High boys' soccer player
broke an  opponent's leg, have added to its black eye.

Lemieux, who cleans houses for a living, has three  children, ages 3
to 9. Despite her complaints about  drug activity, she defends
Pittsfield. "When you see it  in the newspaper, it's mostly bad stuff,
but there's a  lot of good stuff. They have the Balloon Rally, they
have Old Home Day, they have an amazing Pittsfield  Youth Baseball
Association. . . . And the elementary  school is top notch."

Soon Lemieux's 9-year-old son, Jacen, returned from  school. He walked
to the far corner of the living room,  across from the fish tank, to
begin his homework.

"Guess what, mama?" Jacen said. "The teacher said I'm  getting better
in everything."

"That's wonderful," Lemieux answered. "That's really  great."
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