KITCHENER – Recurring street parties in Waterloo are costing regional police hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
The latest numbers in a police service board meeting report say that the unsanctioned parties on homecoming weekend and St. Patrick's Day cost police a combined $465,000.
The two events are the largest and second-largest single day deployments for local officers.
Homecoming alone cost local police about $180,000.
That price tag was made up of a number of factors, including external police, on-duty wages, planning and analysis, but the biggest cost was from overtime.
"As the Waterloo Regional Police Service needed to provide an adequate level of service within the Region outside of the policing of Homecoming and event-related incidents in the University District, the majority of the special event shifts for Homecoming were filled by members on overtime for the day," the report reads in part.
"As a result, overtime expenses were the largest component of the total event cost at $85,300."
Daytime resources on Ezra cost another $24,000, as local police were supplemented by officers from Peel and the OPP.
Planning, which began "many months before the Homecoming date," cost a total of $40,500.
Police say they also expect a significant expense for St. Patrick's Day next year.
