‘Our community expects better’: Kingston Police respond to Homecoming

Police laid charges in one criminal incident; still investigating two

Image supplied by: Journal File Photo
Kingston Police investigating two criminal incidents.

Kingston Police said they were “disappointed” with the behavior of students during Queen’s Homecoming in an Oct. 21 press release.

On Oct. 19, a crowd of 12,000 gathered at the corner of Aberdeen St. and William St., requiring Kingston Police to deploy 108 officers to ensure order on the streets, an increase from 38 officers the day before. 

This is an increase from last year’s crowd of 10,000, despite Ontario University Athletics (OUA) efforts to curb Homecoming crowd sizes by limiting football games to two weekends.

The weekend fun was met with three criminal incidents, 109 provincial offenses, 99 noise complaints, and numerous warnings given, according to the media release.

According to Kingston Fire & Rescue, 19 medical assists were called to Aberdeen and Johnson Sts. over the weekend. 

The three reported criminal incidents occurred on Saturday with police laying charges for one of the incidents, while the rest remain under investigation. 

Over the weekend, two vehicles, a police cruiser and a Red Bull vehicle were heavily damaged by crowds in the University District. The report stated the Red Bull vehicle was damaged by “persons climbing and jumping on it.” 

Similarly, a Kingston Police officer was assaulted on Johnson St. while attempting to identify a male with open alcohol. 

“This male resisted arrest and fled, and this occurred while onlookers filmed and encouraged the male suspect’s assaultive behavior, no bystander intervened to assist our officer,” the report stated.

While Kingston Police reported most people were “polite and cooperative” during Homecoming Weekend, officers still encountered disrespectful and defiant individuals. 

“The Kingston Police are committed to public safety first and foremost,” the press release stated. “Our community expects better.” 

At press time, Kingston Police communications still hadn’t released specific statistics about arrests made during Homecoming or tickets issued under the University District Safety Initiative (UDSI).

Tags

Homecoming, Kingston Police, University District Safety Initiative

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