Duval: Mental Health, Substance Abuse are Serious Problems [VIDEO]

Earlier this week saw Gov. Maggie Hassan meeting with Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce members to talk about the state of the state. On March 28, alumni from the Chamber’s Leadership Greater Concord program at a fundraising breakfast were able to hear Chief John Duval talk about the state of the city’s police department and crime in Concord.

Duval talked a bit about his 27 years in the department including his recent years as chief of the department.

After focusing a number of lighthearted, humorous, historic, and interesting factoids, including photos of two sentence reports from the 1920s and some high profile cases of the past, Duval focused on some of the problems the city is facing right now. Some of those issues, he noted, included the standard theft, drug activity, and petty crimes that are expected in a city the size of Concord.

But Duval also focused on a more recent problem – mental health and substance issues that are plaguing the city and that often result in dangerous criminal activity. 

“If you took care of those social issues, I could trim my budget by a third,” he said. “I could … because my calls for service tell me that. It’s pretty remarkable. I don’t fear I’m going to have to do that … that it will happen … but that would be the result of it.”

Duval noted that he had been working with other law enforcement agencies and the state to address the homeless issue, including closing down the camping areas behind the Everett Arena and along the railroad tracks. He said people who worked in those areas and the number of calls to the areas had proven to him that they weren’t safe and something had to be done.

Duval also said there would be a new ordinance unveiled in April to the Concord City Council about how to address the panhandling dilemma, balancing the 1st Amendment rights of individuals while making sure that everyone is also safe.

During a short question and answer period, Duval also said he hoped that “Stand Your Ground” would be repealed and had concerns about the delivery of medicinal marijuana as well as decriminalization bills before the Legislature. He also said that he didn’t believe that people tagging and spray-painting graffiti were involved in gang activity. Duval said most considered themselves “street artists” who were in competition with others to outdo each other even if they were also vandalizing private property at the same time.

Here are some video clips, both humorous and serious, from the breakfast.