I just looked it up. It was a PC. Seacoast online said:

"According to the report, after clearing the accident, Johnson decided to reapproach the residence with McCue, to check on the woman's status. When she came to the door again...she said she had consumed three beers and a hard lemonade. [They] asked if there was someone who could stay with her and when she walked into the house to make a call, they followed. What they found...caused concern...(Johnson) said that he had never been in a residence that was that bad since he has been a police officer.” According to the MRI report, McCue described it as “not livable.”

In his police report, McCue wrote he “smelled the odor of rotting food and fecal matter. There were mountains of trash and belongings throughout the house, making walking impossible without stepping on something. In the back bedroom, there were large piles of clothes and garbage. In the bathroom sink, I observed what appeared to be a combination of fecal matter, vomit and urine covering the table and sink."

According to the report, Johnson felt the woman should not be left on her own due to intoxication and the condition of her home. When he was told it would take an hour for the woman’s brother to travel to North Hampton, he decided he could not spare an officer to stay with her for that length of time. He allowed the woman to smoke her cigarette then drove her to the Rockingham County jail to be held in protective custody. According to the MRI report, McCue added, “She was compliant but did appear more intoxicated by the time he dropped her off at the jail.”"

The internal review of this by the MRI consultant basically said what the officer did was legal but just generally unhelpful:

"According to New Hampshire Chapter 172-B, a police officer who encounters someone who is intoxicated as defined by New Hampshire law may take the person into protective custody. The law states they can either help them to their home, release them into another person’s custody or “lodge the person in a local jail or county correctional facility for said person’s protection, for up to 24 hours,” or until the individual sobers up.... The report concludes that although Johnson believed he was acting in the best interest of the woman involved, his action was not appropriate "and other short- and long-term remedies should have been pursued."

The consultant noted, "the extreme conditions observed by the officers did not occur overnight. There is no nexus to connect her use of alcohol that evening to the condition of her home which may have developed over many years," he stated."

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2023/03/14/north-hampton-chief-mone-officer-investigated/70002700007/

Like that all makes a fuck ton more sense. Holding her overnight was legal- but probably unwarranted bc it really wasn't gonna do anthing to solve this lady's issues. This other article is misleading and missing a lot of facts. This form of custody is completely legal under NH law if they felt she was a danger to herself. And that's the real issue - laws like this are completely subjective to the officer. Clearly, the town didn't like the officers judgment on this and no wonder (like what the fuck was sitting in a cell gonna do? ) but this woman definitely probably does need some legit help.

The rest of the article goes on to say police chief diagreed with the MRI report, that she did not discipline the officers involved but that she did have a conversation with them that "there could have been a better resolution than taking the woman into protective custody." So it sounds more like she left bc she was sick of the town questioning her decisions more than she was covering shit up.