Police reaffirm condition on methadone clinic

Metro Treatment of New Hampshire, the firm seeking to open a methadone clinic at O'Shea Industrial Park, failed to make an appearance yesterday when the city's "technical review committee" (TRC), consisting of representatives of municipal departments, weighed its appeal of the requirement to station a police officer and cruiser at the clinic during all operating hours.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Joe Sullivan, development director of Metro Treatment of New Hampshire, informed Planning Director Shanna Saunders that he would be unable to attend the TRC meeting the next morning.

On the advice of the Police Department, the city departments reaffirmed their original recommendation to require the presence of the officer, which based on the proposed hours of operation would cost the firm close to $134,000 a year.

Speaking for the police, Captain Steve Clarke reiterated the department's concerns that prompted it to recommend the presence of an officer and reject Sullivan's offer to post a uniformed security guard instead. He said that information gleaned from departments in communities where methadone clinics operated indicated the potential for incidents that only a police officer would possess the requisite training, experience and authority to address.

Noting the possible side effects of methadone, especially if combined with prescription medications, illicit drugs or alcohol, Clarke said that the department remained concerned about impaired drivers leaving the clinic, which is proposed to operate at 22 Primrose Drive, in an area frequented by children walking to and from school. He said that the clinic plans to operate strictly as a cash business, charging $15 per visit, which in other communities, including Concord, appears to have contributed to spates of break-ins and burglaries.

Private security guards, Clarke said, lacked the authority to detain persons involved in traffic accidents, suspected of criminal activity or engaging in disorderly conduct, all of which have been associated with methadone clinics in other communities in New Hampshire and other states. "They are usually hired to secure buildings and protect property," he said, "but they cannot address public safety issues. They can only call us."

Sullivan has acknowledged that the expense of stationing an officer contributed to the decision to appeal, but stressed that the overbearing presence of the police would deter patients from patronizing the clinic.

Metro Treatment of New Hampshire is an affiliate of the Colonial Management Group headquartered in Orlando, Florida, which operates 54 private outpatient substance abuse treatment clinics in 18 states, including three in New Hampshire. Sullivan said that he knew of no other case of a clinic being required to post a police officer.

Saunders explained that the next step in the appeal process would be a public hearing before the Planning Board on Tuesday, April 7. She said that members of the public would be permitted to speak, but would be required to confine their remarks to the specific issue on appeal, namely the requirement to station an officer at the clinic. The decision of the Planning Board is open to appeal in Belknap County Superior Court.