Riot officers will be on standby this weekend at Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay after “a great deal of mayhem and crime” was seen in the area over the 2022 Victoria Day weekend.
Toronto police Acting Supt. Paul MacIntyre held a press conference Friday morning alongside Supt. Kim O’Toole to outline what the service has planned in a bid to prevent a repeat of the violence seen last year.
“As we all know, on Monday night at approximately 10:00, we are going to have a large fireworks display here at Woodbine Beach. It’s a spectacular event that’s put on every year and we really want everybody to come down, enjoy the event, have a great time and really act responsibly,” MacIntyre said.
“Last year we had a great event up until a group of individuals attended Woodbine Beach and they really caused a great deal of mayhem and crime and disorder.”
Over the 2022 long weekend, while officials said there was a visible police presence and various policing resources in place, there were a number of violent incidents in the Woodbine Beach / Ashbridges Bay area.
The night before Victoria Day Monday, there was a double shooting, a stabbing, two gunpoint robberies and fireworks shot at officers.
Seven officers were injured that night and 19 arrests were made, with many of those arrested under 18 years old, police said at the time.
Toronto police said they increased their presence in the Ashbridges Bay area on the Monday for the Victoria Day fireworks show, but again violence occurred, though police said it was “largely peaceful.”
A man was stabbed, fireworks were allegedly shot at a crowd and threats were reportedly made on a bus using a replica firearm. Five people were arrested.
This weekend, there will be “a large number of resources” in the area until Monday night, MacIntyre said.
Officers will be in cars, on bikes, horseback, ATVs and on boats.
Firefighters and paramedics will also be on scene.
MacIntyre said both police and bylaw officers will be patrolling the beach “day and night.”
Parking is going to be restricted in the area and the public was encouraged to take the TTC.
“What happened last year, we are not going to tolerate this year. My officers will be out in full force,” MacIntyre said.
“We want everybody to celebrate responsibly and have a great time.”
Personal fireworks, alcohol and bonfires are not allowed in the area, he said.
MacIntyre didn’t provide specific figures in terms of how many officials will be at Ashbridges Bay / Woodbine Beach. However, he added that “public order unit officers” will be on standby.
A reporter asked if he was referring to officers in riot gear, to which MacIntyre responded “yes.”
“If we start to see that things are starting to get dangerous, (Supt.) Kim (O’Toole) will be calling out the POU,” he said.
O’Toole said last year “kickback parties” happened at Woodbine Beach.
“They were invitations, open invitations, over social media for kids, young people to come to the beach,” she said.
“Sometimes hundreds, sometimes thousands of people anywhere from Bluffers Park all the way down to Cherry Beach would arrive on a Thursday or Friday night. We’ve not had that issue this year. So we’re hoping that’s going to make a significant difference in the type of crowd that’s here at the beach for fireworks.”
MacIntyre said the Toronto police plan is not “an excessive response” to last year’s events.
“We are here to make sure that the public’s safe. And last year, quite simply, they weren’t safe for a while, simply because we had these people that showed up and started shooting Roman candles at each other,” he said.
“We had people that unfortunately were shot. We had a stabbing. And again, we had officers injured, we had horses injured. So we’re not going to tolerate that.”
MacIntyre said if someone sees something concerning or illegal, they should approach a police officer.