LEWISTON – Police fanned out across the downtown Thursday hanging signs alerting people to laws that should be well known. Drinking, loitering, fighting and other disturbance are not allowed in public.

With Department of Justice Weed and Seed money, and help from local landlords, four police officers spent part of the afternoon hanging more than four dozen signs on buildings over several blocks.

“We’re trying to curtail loitering, drinking in public, fights and that kind of thing,” said police Sgt. David St. Pierre. “This gives us a little extra power to enforce those laws.”

Previously, when a person was found drinking or hanging out on public streets, the person had to be first warned to move along before action could be taken. Not anymore. With the new signs in place, police can charge people on the spot for that kind of behavior if the offenders are within 200 feet of one of the signs.

The Weed and Seed program, which funded the effort, is a federal program aimed at reducing violent crime, drug use and gang activity on downtown streets.

On Thursday, St. Pierre, and officers Justin Kittredge, Todd Macwhinnie and Tom Murphy went from building to building with a screw gun hanging up signs. They hung them on buildings along Knox, Bartlett, Blake, Pierce, Walnut, Oak and College streets and surrounding neighborhoods.

Police said the crackdown on loitering, public drinking and fighting stems from complaints from landlords, business owners and residents who live in those neighborhoods. In all, 51 signs were hung around the city. Police advised that local landlords should contact them if they feel signs should be posted on their buildings, as well.

“The landlords have been very helpful in all this,” St. Pierre said. “We really appreciate their cooperation.”

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