TORONTO (CUP)-Though police bulked up their numbers to prepare for it, this year’s annual celebration at Queen’s University will go down as less of a homecoming and more of a rampage.
In the wake of an alcohol-fueled party that saw a mob of approximately 6,000 people launch beer bottles at police officers and each other-as well as overturn and set alight a parked car-Kingston police Insp. Brian Cookman said the time for soft policing is over.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see public order units and other methods of crowd control, like tear gas, next year,” said Insp. Cookman, who was the officer in charge last weekend, when thousands of Queen’s University students, Kingston residents, and people from across the country embarked on a rampage on Aberdeen St., about two blocks from Queen’s University.
Police made 35 arrests-resulting in 18 criminal charges-and have forced Queen’s University to reconsider hosting a homecoming in 2006.
“A comprehensive review and rethinking of traditions (such as homecoming) and practices that may play a role in such offensive, illegal, and dangerous behaviour will be carried out,” said principal Karen Hitchcock in a statement released on the university’s website.
Aberdeen St. is composed entirely of rental units save for one house which is home to an elderly couple. Following the weekend’s events, the university received complaints from the couple’s family saying they felt they had been “held hostage” by the mob and that their house and car had been severely vandalised.
“I’m worried about brand equity of my Queen’s degree,” said Paul Heakes, a Queen’s mathematics student. His sentiments were echoed by computer science grad Mike Umpherson.
“I don’t want to be known as a student from a school that will let stuff like this happen.”
Besides the 18 runs Kingston ambulance services made from Aberdeen St. to Kingston’s local hospital on Sept. 24, Insp. Cookman said ambulance personnel were pelted with beer bottles as they tried to retrieve a half-concious woman who was lying in a street strewn with broken glass.
“They also launched a beer bottle through the window of a fire truck’s front window,” said Insp. Cookman. “That prevented them from putting the fire out.”
Despite deploying virtually the entire Kingston police force-nearly 115 officers were on duty over the weekend, far more than for earlier homecomings-and using tear gas on the crowd, officers were totally outnumbered, something Cookman said he hopes to address next year.
“We’re looking at a number of options,” he said, refusing to rule out asking the RCMP for assistance.
“What the Kingston police need to invest in is a web of small flexible solutions, instead of one large and rigid night stick on Aberdeen,” said Mark Depaoli, a graduate of Queen’s in commerce returning for another homecoming.
Part of the problem, said Insp. Cookman, is that the reputation about Queen’s homecoming has spread nation-wide, meaning Kingston can expect an even higher influx of out-of-town revelers this time next year.
“One of the people we charged over the weekend was from Dalhousie University in Halifax,” said Insp. Cookman. “Another two that we stopped for having open liquor said they were from B.C. and had come down just for homecoming.”
The cost of policing Queen’s homecoming is both a human resources and a financial strain on the city and Kingston city officials don’t intend to foot the bill any longer.
Because of the extra strain caused by the events on Sept. 24, Insp. Cookman said officers who had been on-duty for 24 hours with little rest weren’t fully prepared to deal with a homicide that occurred the next morning.
“It’s not fair to the Kingston community that a murderer gets away because our officers were out babysitting 6,000 unruly partiers all night,” he said.
Queen’s associate VP and dean of students Janice Deakin said city officials are currently tabulating the total cost of the weekend’s events and will sit down with the university to determine who will pay what. The report is expected to be released in November.
Asked whether she believed it was fair for Kingston taxpayers to foot the bill for an increased police presence for Queen’s homecoming, Deakin said the university is taking steps to try and encourage student participation in homecoming activities away from Aberdeen St. so as to mitigate the need for increased policing.
“In my first, second, and even third years of school this seemed like nothing more than…the biggest party the city sees each year,” said Adam, a Queen’s student, on his blog.
“This year…[it looked more] like an out-of-control riot.”
-With files from Hunter J. Moyes.
