1 day Ago
A six-person team from a New York-based company has begun patrolling and cleaning the streets of downtown Bangor. Workers from Streetplus, an urban safety, cleaning and hospitality service, began traveling around downtown Bangor last week to establish patrol routes and assess what services are most needed, according to Betsy Lundy, executive director of Downtown Bangor Partnership, a local organization that brought in the service. Their arrival marks the start of a three-year contract in Bangor.
The team members, who wear blaze orange shirts to make them easy to spot, have also been introducing themselves to local businesses and meeting with other resources with similar missions, Lundy said. Further information on how people can call the team if they need assistance, such as a walk to their car at night, will be available soon, Lundy said. The Streetplus team is the latest public resource brought in to help address pervasive issues in downtown Bangor, namely visible symptoms of homelessness, untreated mental health issues and substance use disorder.
Once fully operational, Streetplus’ services include cleaning up litter, reporting vandalism to the appropriate city department and patrolling downtown. Employees can also approach people who are homeless downtown and direct them to local services, Lundy previously told the Bangor Daily News. The launch of Streetplus comes on the heels of the Bangor Police Department bringing back its downtown walking beat officer in May 2024 after the position was cut in 2021 due to staffing shortages.
Before that, the city’s Bangor Community Action Team , which responds to non-emergency calls that don’t require a police presence, formed in spring 2023. Lundy asked city councilors for financial support for the service multiple times in recent years, but was repeatedly denied due to concerns about whether Streetplus could successfully staff a team in Bangor. Other councilors were skeptical of the company’s ability to solve some of the community’s toughest challenges.
Ultimately, the city agreed to chip in $230,000 in this year’s budget for the program and Downtown Bangor Partnership contributed $310,000 to begin the three-year contract..
