On behalf of the men and women of the Portsmouth Police Department, welcome and thank you for visiting our website. The Portsmouth, NH area is frequently rated as one of the most desirable places to live in national polls and is one of the safest places on earth. Nestled in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire, Portsmouth was founded in 1623 as one of the very first places the settlers landed. It was called Strawbery Banke back then and has since grown into the City of Portsmouth, NH.

Portsmouth Police have 62 full time sworn police officers, 25 part time police officers or Auxiliaries, and 21 support staff including the combined public safety dispatchers.  Our embracing of proactive policing continues to yield positive results with our crime rate being one of the lowest in the country.

We have vibrant tourism and a deep commercial base that keeps Portsmouth economically sound and the recipient of national awards.  The Portsmouth Police Department also receives numerous state and nationals awards with the most recent one recognizing our efforts with mental illness response.  We believe in forming positive partnerships and collaboration with our various social and civic groups. We have 18 very involved neighborhood groups that we have joined with to help them make their community within the community an even better place to live. We care not just about crime issues, but also quality of life issues. 

I am very proud of the professionalism and sense of duty displayed each day by our Department members. They are dedicated, brave and have devoted themselves to enhance the lives of others. I hope you have the chance to visit our area to see firsthand our wonderful community. I hope you enjoy exploring our website and learn more about the Portsmouth NH Police Department.

City of Portsmouth Police – Awards

2011 - National Alliance on Mental Illness Training in Action Award
2011 - Rotary Paul F. Harris Award - Sgt. Thomas Grella
2011 - Portsmouth Police Explorers State Champions
2011 - Rotary Paul F. Harris Award - Chief David "Lou" Ferland
2011 - New England Narcotics Officer Award - Officer Brian Houde
2011 - Working Dog Foundation Volunteer of the Year -  Portsmouth Police Explorers
2011 - Working Dog Foundation Patrol Case of the Year -  Officer Scott Pearl and K-9 Wess
2010 - Sexual Assault Support Services Porch Light Award - Capt. Mike Schwartz
2010 - Employee Support of the Guard and Reserve Award
2010 - Explorer Community Service Post of the Year
2010 - Looking Beyond the Traffic Ticket Award - Officer Chris Kiberd
2010 - Looking Beyond the Traffic Ticket Award - Officer Chris Worthington
2010 - U.S. Attorney's Award
2010 - Congressional Award Gold Medal - Police Explorer Capt. Kyle Brake
2009 - Patrol Case of the Year - Officer Scott Pearl and K-9 Wess
2009 - Handler of the Year - Officer Eric Kinsman and K-9 Titan
2009 - Community Service Explorer Post of the Year
2009 - Silver "E" Award - Top Statewide Police Cadet
2009 - Golden "E" Award - Top Statewide Explorer Advisor
2009 - William Spurgess Award - Top Exploring Award by the Daniel Webster Council
2009 - Sexual Assault Support Services Porch Light Award
2009 - Police Explorer New England Post of the Year
2008 & 2009 - American Red Cross Hero’s Award
2009 - Underage Drinking Enforcement Award – OJJDP
2008 - Woman in law Enforcement Award
2008 - Police K-9 Handler of the Year – State of NH
2006 - Cyber Crime Agency of the Year - State of NH
2004 - Robert Trojanowicz Community Policing Award

City of Portsmouth – Awards

• Portsmouth ranked as great place to retire by Where to Retire
• Most Livable State 2011 by CQ Press
• Coolest small City 2010
• Designated as one of 29 "Preserve America" communities by First Lady Michelle Obama - July 2010
• Top Spot for a "Weekend Getaway" Destination for Food and Wine - Boston Magazine October 2010
• Cosmopolitan Magazine – Top 10 list of best places to live and work in the country.
• UTNE Reader named Portsmouth as part of their 50 “most enlightened cities” in the country.
• Money Magazine rated Portsmouth in their Top 10 best places to live in the country five times over the last 10 years.
• Prevention Magazine – listed Portsmouth as #58 on their Top 100 Walking Cities in America for 2008.
• The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Portsmouth to its list of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations.
• Careerbuilder.com – 25 Best Places to Find a Job.
• Outside Magazine – Portsmouth was listed no. 4 on their list of the 20 Best Towns in America 2008.
• National Geographic – Honors Portsmouth as the nation’s No. 6 Most Historic Place.
• Yankee Magazine called downtown Portsmouth “an enchanting jewel box of a city”.
• CQ Press’ annual Crime State Rankings rated New Hampshire the No. 1 Safest State in 2008.
• Forbes.com – Rated Rockingham County #53 out of 200 on their Best Places for Business and Careers list.
• Business Week – Named Portsmouth the Best Place on NH to Start a New Business.
• American Style Magazine – For the 4th consecutive year, Portsmouth has been named to the Nation’s Top 25 Arts Destinations.  Portsmouth was named on the small cities list, which includes cities with populations of less than 100,000 and was recognized for its “exciting, reliable and budget-friendly location.”
• ForbesTraveler.com – Listed Portsmouth as one of “America’s Prettiest Towns”.
• In 2007, the New York Times featured Portsmouth as “A ‘Mini-Boston’ on a Small Slice of Coast”.
• New England Travel & Life – “Best Shopping Destination” in 2006.
• Arbor Day Foundation – Portsmouth was named a Tree City USA community in 2009, for the 10th year of National Recognition.

return