Homeless camp sets up in New Hampshire family's backyard

A violent homeless encampment has sprung up in the backyard of a historic New Hampshire home, leaving the family terrified as they have had to deal with death threats and the sound of gunfire. Despite this, the family dealing with the crisis are progressive voters who said they are "compassionate" to homeless folks and believe evicting the vagrants wouldn't be effective without services in place.

The Bach family of four, which includes two children aged 8 and 11, said vagrants erected a large encampment in the woods directly behind their home in Concord. Robin Bach, the wife and mother, explained that her kids have been unable to play in their backyard due to extreme criminal activity and active death threats.

"I can't even use my backyard. My kids can't go out there," Bach told the Concord Monitor. "I would like my children to be independent and feel comfortable going outside and playing and they won't."
 

The Bachs bought the $800,000 home in 2018 and have called the police 37 times to report various violent encounters with the vagrants living just feet away from where they sleep. The couple installed a swing set in 2020, but the kids have been too afraid to use it, said Bach.

Bach said her husband had been violently threatened by a man multiple times after he asked the vagrant to leave who had emerged from the woods in their backyard. The vagrant allegedly threatened to shoot him. The man returned to their property several times, which prompted the Bachs to file a restraining order. Police arrested the man and he has not returned since.

The Supreme Court ruled last week that camping outdoors is illegal and cities can enforce bans on it; however, the costs to remove the encampments are hefty.

"The city won't clean up any private property," said Barrett Moulton, deputy chief of patrol for Concord. "But if it is city land then there is a whole process and it's often expensive."

Bach, who would like to see the encampment removed from her backyard, said evicting the vagrants wouldn't be effective because they would just return like they have done in the past unless services are in place.

"You can't just ask them to leave, they're going to go somewhere else," said Bach. "You have to give them someplace to go."

In the meantime, Bach has been looking to install a fence to separate her backyard from the vagrants, though it comes at the cost of $50,000.