Residents tell Portsmouth Police Commission they feel dismissed and unsafe

Victoria Haskell, who identified herself as a Portsmouth resident, used the public‑comment period to say she had been repeatedly dismissed and that members of the panel made inappropriate and discriminatory remarks at a prior meeting. "There were sexist comments made. There was religious discrimination made," Haskell said, adding that she had attempted to get answers from a person she called "Buzz" and felt ignored. When she asked the commission for a response, the Chair told her to "check your email," and the Chair declined to engage in an extended back‑and‑forth during the public comment period.

Later in the comment period, Kathleen Logan of 21 Blossom Street described roughly six years of recurring problems with a neighbor she described as mentally ill and sometimes armed. Logan said police visits had been frequent but that actions such as serving a no‑trespass notice were delayed; she recounted that on April 19 her son called police after seeing a man with a large knife. "If something happens to us, that is the record of what we've been trying to stop," Logan said, and urged the city to coordinate across departments to find alternate placements or other remedies.

Both comments were presented during the meeting's public comment segment; commissioners acknowledged the remarks but did not take formal action on the complaints during the session. The Chair closed public comment and moved the agenda to new business.