Police services board wants new approach to St. Patrick's Day
The Waterloo Region Police Services Board wants to explore new ways of dealing with the annual unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party in Waterloo’s University District.
This years’ festivities drew an estimated 9,500 people at peak. The cost of policing the gathering came in at $318,000 – mostly from overtime. The City of Waterloo spent an additional $103,800 on bylaw, fire and transit services.
Reviewing the cost estimate at Wednesday morning’s meeting, police board chair Ian McLean said it “feels a lot like Groundhog Day.”
“I am really concerned because the inevitable is going to happen, there’s a huge risk of catastrophic injury and/or death when you have that many people in places that are not meant for that kind of gathering,” McLean said.
A picture from a police CCTV camera shows the crowd of St. Patrick's Day partiers on Marshall Street at Regina Street at peak at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday March 16, 2024. (Presentation to Waterloo Regional Police Services Board)
While the police have focused on “managing” the party, McLean said he wanted to see them “try some new things.”
He asked for a group of senior leaders, including the police chief, the mayor of Waterloo and university presidents, to come together and discuss options.
“To look at this and say ‘What are some of the things that we have not done – some of which may be uncomfortable and things we thought we might not be able to do. But we need to have that conversation because this has to stop,” he said.
The motion passed unanimously with plans for the group to report back to the police board in September with ideas that could be implemented in time for St. Patrick’s Day 2025.
McLean declined to provide specifics about what tactics he'd like to see considered when asked by reporters.
“I’m not putting anything on or off the table but it should be a wide open discussion because what we’re doing right now in terms of trying to manage it is not working because the audience is not listening,” he said.
Other board members echoed McLean’s concerns.
“We’re diverting really scarce and precious services, EMS, police services, etc. away from other areas in the broader community,” Tony Giovinazzo said.
Chief Mark Crowell said from police's perspective, the gathering has become unsustainable.
"It’s unsanctioned but it’s also unsustainable from a cost standpoint," he said.
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe told CTV News she appreciates the board taking the issue seriously, but senior leadership already meets to discuss the street parties. The city has also tried various strategies over the years.
"If I had a magic wand to wave, I certainly would in this case," she said. "But it really is time for this dangerous gathering to come to an end"
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.