WRPS commit $10K to task force to end St. Patrick’s Day on Ezra

Planning and preparation already underway for next year’s St. Patrick’s Day, as officials go over the final report on this year’s record-breaking gathering on Ezra Avenue.

St. Paddy’s celebrations fell on a Saturday in 2018, which may have attributed to the unprecedented number of attendees in the University corridor – an estimated 22,400 people.

“That number doesn’t include people partying on porches, inside properties or backyards, or those who came and left before the crowd’s peak,” explains WRPS Deputy Kevin Thaler in a Police Services Board Meeting. “Trying to police 22,400 people is .. interesting.”

A final report on the unsanctioned festivities was presented to the Board on Wednesday, and Thaler notes the Waterloo gathering saw a 55 per cent increase in attendance compared to 2017.

That wasn’t the only increase impacting police resources either – as criminal code charges doubled, and arrests were up to 19 from three the previous year.

Officers also laid the highest number of charges relating to the event on record ‘by a significant margin’ – with a total of 648.

The ‘bad apples’ weren’t entirely homegrown either, as police say the charges are attributable to students from 37 different post-secondary schools across Ontario and Quebec.

The spike in visitors was met with a serious spike in staffing though – with planning and police services totaling $330,000 for St. Patrick’s Day.

Chief Bryan Larkin says the reality is – the price tag for policing the event just continues to escalate year after year.

“The fact that next year it will be on a Sunday – that’s concerning, as that’s another weekend. We know that’s generally a busy time in the University district already – and then when you add a special event, it obviously magnifies that further.”

Larkin adds officer deployment on St. Paddy’s was significantly higher for both day and night shifts, and Public Safety Team members were brought in from Peel Regional Police Service.

“When we look at our operational analysis and planning, it’s definitive that we’re no longer able to contain the safe control for public safety that is required to manage an event of that size – without outside support, particularly outside expertise like crowd management.”

Looking and moving forward – Larkin believes assistance from outside enforcement is going to be a necessity, and a need.

“So that’s why we’re looking at strategies to reduce this event entirely – because obviously the cost continues to escalate, and we can no longer continue to provide the level of safety and service that we also need to meet across the Region.”

Chair Tom Galloway says he has some concerns about the notion of this method continuing, “We cross a threshold when we bring in outside resources, we don’t want to continue to do that.”

The City of Waterloo is also trying to take control of the out-of-control ‘drinkfest’ by spearheading a new task force.

The goal is to address the growing crowds and develop an end-game strategy – and Chief Larkin says Regional Police have made a major financial investment.

“We’ve committed $10,000 and are committing resources – we will also be working with students unions and the students, as we need to hear their voices. I truly believe they understand the financial and resource issues – so we need to work on finding an end result that will satisfy everybody, including citizens across the Region.”

Larkin adds he will continue to work with the task force as its developed, and as WRPS plan for the next major University event – Homecoming.