Downtown surveillance efforts helping in Middletown

Middletown Mayor Elizabeth Slamka, City Manager Ashley Combs and Police Chief Earl Nelson attended Monday’s meeting.

A more consistent response to panhandling from local churches and downtown businesses was requested by Jeff Payne, Downtown Middletown Inc. executive director.

“One of the next steps is trying to work with the churches that have provided some of the services to talk about a policy or approaches to addressing any kind of panhandling,” Payne said.

There is no panhandling law in Middletown’s Codified Ordinances, but there was a recent update to its soliciting and peddling laws in the July 15 council meeting, including stricter guidelines and higher license fees.

Police Chief Earl Nelson said the city is “working on” the addition of a panhandling ordinance.

Representatives from The Gathering, a local faith-based outreach group, spoke at the meeting, sharing some of its plans for how to address the situation.

Chelsie Thomas, who helps The Gathering with organizational and leadership consulting, has worked with the downtown unhoused population to place them in outpatient and inpatient programs, try to find them housing and direct them to local case managers.

Over the past year, there has been a “resurgence” at The Gathering, including more volunteers, resources and involvement in the community.

“There’s a been a few of us that have been steadily meeting to try to address the homeless issue and try to help the downtown and see how we can partner together,” Thomas said.

In the past, The Gathering has completed Narcan training with its team members and is considering de-escalation training in tandem with business owners.

“These are some of the things that we are trying to do to help alleviate some of the problems,” Thomas said. “We really want to get people into housing so that they aren’t downtown.”

Police Chief Earl Nelson shared what the police department has implemented since the last discussion, including the addition of a POP, or problem-oriented policing unit patrolling the downtown area; and the placement of a flock camera near Governor’s Square.

“(The camera) was a huge deterrent,” Nelson said, though he said it “shifted” some of the unhoused population further east on Central Avenue out of view of the camera.

Jeremy B. Davidson, owner of My Salon LLC at 1320 Central Ave., said his business felt the effects of the city’s unhoused population moving east on Central Avenue.

“Concentrating most of your care on this end of the street and not worrying about the rest of us further up...it infuriates me,” Davidson said.

He called on The Gathering to implement more security measures, and Thomas responded, saying she understood Davidson’s frustrations. She added some of the issues would be “worse” if The Gathering wasn’t in town.

“Currently, we’re doing everything that we can,” Thomas said.

“This is a bigger problem than just what The Gathering can do,” she added.

Mayor Slamka agreed the problem was bigger than just one group or department, but work is being done on the city’s part.

“Know that things are being talked about and these conservations are being had, trying to figure out what we can do as a city,” she said.

Heather Gibson, owner of Triple Moon Coffee Company, said she has seen a decrease in incidents since the last meeting and that the flock camera helped with “this corner” of downtown near her business and Pendleton Art Center.

“There hasn’t been a time over the last three weeks where I wondered if I needed to call dispatch,” said Maggie Sampson, owner of Studio of Broken Things at Pendleton Art Center.

Davidson said he was neither encouraged nor disappointed after the meeting about possible solutions.

“Proof is always in the punch,” he said.

The group agreed to meet next month to discuss further progress and ideas.