March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 29
ened to kill three individuals: the
camp director, a summer camp
counselor and that camp counselor's child. In response to the
reported threats, the camp director and the program director for
the Town's Parks and Recreation
Department notified the Meredith Police Department, which
dispatched an officer.
The responding police officer,
Keith True, who also served as the
resource officer at the Town's high
school (where N.P. had been a student), knew N.P., and knew that
N.P. had serious intellectual disabilities. Presumably, camp staff,
directors and Town officials had
the same information about N.P.'s
profound disabilities, as he had
been a regular camper for years.
Upon arriving at the Town's Recreation Center, Officer True spoke
with N.P. and asked him if he had
" heard anyone say anything that
may have scared someone. " N.P.
responded that he had not made
the comments, because he had
not been at camp, he had been at
an appointment. N.P. was, in fact,
present at camp, and N.P. may or
may not have had the ability to accurately recall and respond.
Officer True asked N.P. if
he had heard " anyone making
statements about hurting or killing someone, even as a joke. "
N.P. said he had not and that he
" wouldn't say anything like that. "
According to Officer True, N.P.
did not know why Officer True
was at camp, or why the officer
wanted to speak with him.
After he spoke with N.P., Officer True met with the camp director and the director of the Town's
Parks and Recreation Department.
Officer True told the camp director
and the director of the parks and
recreation department that he did
not believe N.P. posed a threat, and
that Officer True had not known
N.P. to be violent. The officer then
left the camp. No charges were
filed against N.P.
N.P. remained at camp for the
rest of the day without incident.
When Angelika arrived to pick
him up, the parks and recreation
director handed her a " Meredith
Parks and Recreation Behavior
Report. " The director told Angelika that N.P. was suspended from
participating in any Parks and
Recreation Department program,
and from being at any parks and
recreation facility " for an indefinite period of time. "
That evening, Angelika emailed
Meredith's town manager. She explained N.P.'s intellectual disabilities, and that N.P. " has no real
concept of what is being said or discussed beyond the surface, " or any
idea that he had made any threats.
Angelika told the town manager
that N.P. " enjoys camp so much,
and knowing camp is coming to
an end makes him sad, so, he has
had behavior incidents towards the
end of camp in past years, knowing
that it was going to end. "
Angelika asked to meet with the
town manager in person to discuss
N.P.'s suspension, arguing that the
suspension " is extreme for someone who does not even know what
he did or said, and has the mental
ability of a young child. " Angelika
asked the Town to modify the duration of N.P.'s indefinite suspension,
to instead make the suspension
" temporary, maybe for one or two
days. " If N.P. misbehaved after he
returned to camp, the Town could
call her " immediately, and she
would remove him from camp for
the rest of the day. "
The town manager responded
the next morning, August 7, 2019.
He told Angelika that he needed
to review the police and internal
reports, and that " the suspension
would remain in place until the investigation and research into this
matter is completed. " Once completed, he said that Angelika would
be notified of the outcome.
Angelika expressed her
disappointment that the
Town had not involved her
in the decision-making
process, " in order to get a
better understanding of an
intellectually-challenged
individual. "
Angelika addressed the Town's
Behavior Report that same day and
asked that her response be appended
to the Report. She wrote that N.P.
had a " significant intellectual disability that limits his understanding
of questions being asked, " and " usually responded to questions based
on what he thinks the person asking
wants to hear. " She further wrote,
" N.P. does not understand, or even
recall the event, but the staff at the
community center, especially those
who have known N.P for the past
four years, should understand that
just because he is older, his intellectual ability remains that of a six-yearold. " Finally, Angelika expressed her
disappointment that the Town had
not involved her in the decisionmaking process, " in order to
get a better understanding of an
PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R G | M A R C H 2 02 1 |
Parks & Recreation
29
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2021 - Parks & Recreation
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 1
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 2
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 3
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 4
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 5
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 6
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 7
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 8
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 9
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 10
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March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 12
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March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 14
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March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 17
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 18
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 19
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 20
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March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 30
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March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 56
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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