Aberdeen Street looks a lot different than it did on Sunday, when police say as many as 4,000 party-goers crammed into the University District to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
That being said, from an enforcement standpoint, the local police force says the weekend was a success, partly due to work done ahead of time to gauge whether students knew about the nuisance bylaw and the University District Safety Initiative.
“We’ve heard students talking about it on campus, so it’s definitely something that’s in their mindset as they go out,” said Kingston police deputy chief Chris Scott.
In total, the weekend party cost Kingston tax payers $39,954.51, which is down from $56,307.95 in 2018.
“A 30 percent improvement in the cost for policing the event is substantial,” Scott said. “That’s why we think it’s one of those things where, with everybody working together, things are trending in the right direction.”
“So hopefully, as we work through the next three or four years, we can get things down. We want people to have fun, we just want to make sure they don’t impact other members of the community when they do so,” he added.
Scott suggested that the weather and the fact that St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Sunday this year could have helped, too.
A total of 79 summons were laid as part of the new University District Safety Initiative and nuisance bylaw. Last year, 118 charges were laid.