17 arrested, hundreds charged after St. Patrick’s Day celebrations: WRPS
A court injunction, fencing and a heavy police presence in the university district of Waterloo didn’t stop St. Patrick’s Day revellers from celebrating unlawfully.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) said 17 individuals were arrested and over 250 charges were laid from March 15 to March 17.
A court injunction was in place during that time, that allowed the arrest or detention of anyone attending, hosting, creating, or sponsoring an unsanctioned street party or violating the city’s nuisance bylaw in the university district.
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At the police services board meeting on Wednesday, Chief Mark Crowell said that the force obtaining the injunction shows the level of risk and cost associated with the gatherings.
“There’s still some further analysis to understand all of the impacts that led to the behaviour that we saw over the weekend,” he said. “Looking back at all of the years that this community has managed it and heading into the future, there’s still work to do to come together to find solutions to minimize risk, cost, and strain upon resources.”
There were no reports of any physical injuries or property damage but a large gathering over the weekend did have police transition to crowd management tactics.
Crowell said it’s estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 people gathered on the Marshall Street corridor.
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On Saturday March 15, WRPS told 570 NewsRadio that around 2:45 p.m., “A large crowd was observed descending off the sidewalk and onto Marshall Street in what we believe was a planned, organized attempt to take over the street. At this point, enforcement efforts by our members transitioned to crowd management and public safety efforts as officers were forced to shut down multiple streets to oncoming vehicles.”
This “requires considerable resources” from police but other partner around the region, the chief said.
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Regional police say around four hours later, a Long Range Acoustic Device or LRAD was used to provide instructions to the crowd, with officers safely clearing the area within half an hour.
In all, WRPS responded to over 450 incidents, and expect as they comb through video footage of the day, more charges could be laid.
When asked if a court injunction could be a new tool for future years, Crowell said more analysis of its effective use will be needed for they decide.
“I anticipate that that will be a focal point of future planning,” he said. “We really want to avoid the worst-case scenario and working from that standpoint backward.”
The hundreds of charges already laid include numerous offences including careless driving, public intoxication, assault, sexual assault, uttering threats, and disobeying a court injunction.
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The Regional police services board met on Wednesday, and although the street parties were not officially on the agenda, the matter was briefly discussed.
Board Chair, Ian McLean didn’t mince words when he shared his initial thoughts.
“First and foremost, this is a safety issue. It always has been. When we see the number of people that congregate, not only their own safety but putting at risk other people in the community, it’s a disgrace.”
McLean went on to say that clearly there is still work to be done.
“Someone will get injured or hurt or killed and then everyone’s going to point fingers. And, so we need to continue to move forward to say this is unacceptable in our community. It doesn’t happen in every university town. It seems to happen in Kingston and here and it’s just something we have to deal with.”
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From the City of Waterloo’s end, municipal enforcement responded to 129 complaint calls from 5 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
A total of 36 charges were issued from that department and 25 of them came with a fine of $800.
A full report is expected to come before the police services board on April 16.
