The city’s Police Commission recently stated that there has been no wrongdoing with how the Nashua Police Department has enforced the Camping on Public Property ordinance. File photo

NASHUA – The city’s Police Commission, a three-member board that oversees the Nashua Police Department, recently dispelled allegations of police misconduct against the city’s homeless population.

On Dec. 1, 2025, the Camping on Public Property ordinance took effect to eliminate the large homeless encampments, which had become breeding grounds for drug use, domestic violence as well as the disposal of needles, garbage and human waste.

The ordinance states: “It shall be unlawful for any person to use or cause to be used any of the streets, sidewalks, squares or any other public property as a camping place absent prior written permission from the Board of Aldermen or its designee.”

In its July 27 letter to the Board of Aldermen, the commission addressed the “contentious discussion” that took place during the July 14 Aldermen meeting regarding how the police were enforcing the ordinance.

During the meeting, residents alleged that police had destroyed the tents and belongings of homeless individuals, fined them thousands of dollars, dropped them off in Manchester with no way of getting back to Nashua and even put them in prison to work as slave laborers.

“It is the opinion of the Board of Police Commissioners that the Nashua Police Department is not only enforcing the ordinance but also are doing so in a manner that makes the allegations simply untrue,” said Commissioners James Tollner, Nicholas Dahl and Kristin Wilson. “The Nashua Police Department has not engaged in the malicious damaging of personal property.”

To date, 14 summonses have been issued since the ordinance took effect. Four of them have not gone to court yet. The remainder have been placed on file for up to a year. Those cases will be dismissed provided that the defendants receive assistance that can be documented by an agency.

The commissioners also maintained that none of the defendants have paid a fine for violating the ordinance and that no arrests have been made.

“The goal of the Nashua Police Department’s Legal Division is not to fine anyone, but to provide motivation for the individual to seek needed services,” they said