Cruising Main in Groveton: verboten!

[KBCraig]

As an aside, I thought that Northumberland was a named place within the town of Groveton. Turns out it's the other way around: Northumberland is the town, and Groveton is the village.

I'm still getting used to these "towns" that are more like miniature counties.

I swore during my teen years to never forget what it's like to be a teenager. Even as a father of teens, I think I've done well by that pledge.

That said, I had no patience during my teen years for those who thought they were owed "something to do" for entertainment, and my tolerance of that mindset has not increased in the last 25 years. When I was a teenager in a town of 400 people (in a county of 8,000, in a state three times the area of NH, but matching its current population), I was one of those kids "hanging out" and "cruising Main". No one ever bitched about the lack of "stuff to do". So, I don't sympathize with the age 20+ whiners who claim they have nothing better to do. At the same time, I believe they have every right to stand around and whine and gripe and mope about how no one is taking care of them, and they have every right to be free from police harrassment.

Union Leader article:

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=North+Country+youth+have+same+complaints+as+youth+across+the+country+%e2%80%94+there%e2%80%99s+nothing+to+do&articleId=a56ddc03-d100-4c83-9689-d04763b10ac3

North Country youth have same complaints as youth across the country ? there?s nothing to do

By LORNA COLQUHOUN
Union Leader Correspondent

Northumberland ? By the time sunset had cast long shadows down State Street Wednesday evening, people began finding their way to wherever it was they wanted to be to pass time.

On one side of Groveton?s main drag, a few people and a friendly dog sat idly chatting, while on the other side, against a backdrop of a shingled building, young women with baby strollers laughed and joked with young men smoking cigarettes and drinking soda.

It is a scene that plays out in small towns and big cities across New Hampshire and the nation on hot summer nights. Young people gravitate to the places where they can not only buy something to eat or drink, but meet up with friends and wait expectantly that maybe something will happen, but knowing deep down that it will be just another ordinary night.

Nothing special
The street is neither loud or quiet. It is alive, but not necessarily lively, until a voice is raised to proclaim, ?Here comes Jimmy Neutron!?, referring to an animated character, as a young police officer aims his cruiser down State Street for another night of keeping order.

The group of young people, who are in their late teens or early 20s, are congregated in front of the Groveton Market and they are familiar with Officer Richard Norris, who is just a few years older than them.

They posture expectantly and watch as he gets out of his cruiser, smiling politely, urging them to move along. The group scatters for as long as Norris is on the street, before they cluster again. This will be repeated many over the next two hours, raising the frustrations of the young people.

?We don?t do anything but hang around and he comes around four, five, six times a night and harasses us,? says Cohen Stone, who out with his fiancee, Christie Bradley, and their month-old son. ?It?s annoying.?

For some, the level of the police presence in the downtown is a relief. Two local fathers say it is out of line and flirts with violating their civil rights.

John Roberge, a native son, Army veteran and former social worker in Haiti, and Eugene Montgomery, a Scot who came to Groveton 30 years ago by way of Canada, launched a petition drive last week ?to protect the civil rights of citizens of Groveton against police harassment,? after an incident earlier this month when Roberge was threatened with arrest after taking issue with the way police deal with young people in the town.

?I have certainly felt like a deviant this week? seeking signatures for the petition, Roberge said. ?But there is a daily injustice going on. We live in the US of A and we have the freedom of assembly. There is no need of a police state in Groveton.?

Adds Montgomery: ?This is not Dodge City.?

Town within a town
Groveton is a village within the town of Northumberland, situated about 10 miles north of Lancaster. State Street is where the town offices are, as well as a small grocery store and convenience store/deli, a pizza shop that is one of just two restaurants in Northumberland, the Catholic church, a laundry and a couple of other small businesses.

At the bottom of State Street is the old Groveton Paperboard, which closed earlier this year, and the Wausau Paper complex.

?The law says that you cannot obstruct vehicle or pedestrian traffic or the entrance to public buildings,? said police Chief Lloyd Tippet, a native who?s been on the force for more than 20 years, citing the state?s disorderly conduct law. ?They claim their civil rights are being violated, but we are just upholding the laws of the state of New Hampshire.?

The younger people have a familiar lament on this night, that there isn?t anything to do. Tippet, who says he passed his youth in town without ever hanging on the street corners, said there are things to do in town, including hanging out with friends some place other than State Street.

?We?re a small northern town that has provided a lot of places and come up with a lot of money for kids,? Tippet said, ticking off locations like the tennis courts, the basketball courts, the playground and the swimming pool, which was newly renovated last year.

Tom LeDuc owns the Groveton Market, which is where the young people congregate. From the porch above the store, where people buy everything from subs to magazines to ice cream treats, LaDuc looks down at the group of people in front of his store, conceding they are all customers, but it?s not the only reason he doesn?t mind them standing in front of his store.

?This town has been hard hit this year and there isn?t a whole lot of things they can do,? he said. ?They?re in the 18 to 25 age range and they?re lucky if they can get a part-time job ? there aren?t very many of them.?
Keep to themselves

As long as they are not doing anything illegal or dangerous and respect others, people who walk around State Street and stop to talk with friends keep it from being empty and, he says, that?s important as the town tries to revive itself.

Roberge said he realizes that the some of those who gather in the evenings ?say wise things? to police officers, but they get frustrated when they are told to move along. And, he said, it is not just a few young people who are told move along, but older people as well.

?In order to address a few bad teens, the police are oppressing everyone,? he said. ?I think there needs to be some training for police officers in how to deal with people in non-threatening situations. We have some wonderful cops in town, but there needs to be respect.?

Around the corner from State Street are the Groveton Housing apartments, which are home to a number of older residents. Tippet said he has talked to many who will not come out in the evening because they do feel intimidated by groups on the sidewalks.

?They have a hard time walking down the street without getting comments, hearing bad language and feeling intimidated,? he said.

By 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Norris has cruised slowly up and down State Street several times, getting out of the vehicle to briefly exchange words with a group of young people. After he departs on one occasion, a shout of profanity is heard along the street and up in LaDuc?s porch. Shortly after, Norris parks in the lot between the Groveton Market and the building owned by Ron Caron.

?Officer Norris is the first officer in a long time to be out here like this,? he said. ?I think there is excessive swearing and yelling on the streets and they are not showing respect to property. My building has been egged and papered and no one did anything about it. I?m glad to see him in town like this.?

Still new
Tippet notes that Norris, who has been on the department for a year, is a college graduate and certified as a police officer by the state.

?He?s not much older than some of those who hang around and in my opinion, he has authority that they don?t,? he said. ?They seem to have a radar to where the cruiser is.?

As of Wednesday night, Roberge and Montgomery had gathered fewer than than 100 signatures on the petition, which asks town officials ?to protect the law-abiding citizens of Groveton from this indiscriminate police harassment.? When they get 200 signatures, they?ll bring it to a selectmen?s meeting.

Roberge has also prepared a list of ?suggestions for change,? which include ?building relationships? with the community, as well as a plea to the young people ?to behave responsibly and to be courteous toward police officers.?

Montgomery and Roberge say they hope a dialogue will open that will lead to mutual respect solving the situation.

Tippet suggest another alternative to solving it.

?They can park by the high school or the ballfields ? why do they need to congregate in front of businesses?? he said.

[Lloyd Danforth]

While they have a right to assemble anywhere on public property, I have no doubt many of them go out of their way to intimidate the old folks.  I suggest the old folks start packing big guns on their hips and intimidate them back!

[aries]

Groveton is having huge problems with kids hanging out downtown being noisy and cursing and whatnot.

I was there midday two days ago and all seemed calm. A few people in front of the market but nothing big.

I think the problem lies with the town government, not the residents. Keep in mind about 1/3 of the town lost their jobs after the mill closed and this is a very, very depressed place, so the kids are being raised in low-income homes, where the parents can't afford TV or air conditioning in the summer... so what else to do but wander?