In a concerted effort to clean up downtown New Bedford, boys in blue have chalked up a tally of fourteen arrests since the first of May, brandishing cuffs for a gambit of offenses, as gritty as unarmed robbery and as pedestrian as public boozing.
With a particular eye on the Serta Bus Terminal and adjacent streets, officers nabbed several individuals loafing around with open containers and two men caught red-handed puffing on crack cocaine on Mechanic's Lane. Among those detained were folks who were already wanted on outstanding warrants, trying to blend into the city's backdrop.
Chief Paul Oliveira expressed a community-centric vision behind the crackdown, saying, "Our city's downtown district is important to us, and when people are actively drinking, openly using drugs, and being overall disorderly in the area, we are compelled to act." These words, firm yet hopeful, were part of a statement captured by the Police Department's widely-followed Facebook page.
Despite the recent haul into the precinct, the New Bedford Police Department insists that throwing the book at offenders is not the goal post. They tout a robust outreach program, working hand-in-glove with community partners to offer a lifeline to those wrestling with the demons of addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues – framing arrests as a course of last resort.
