Pop quiz hot shot: It’s Homecoming, you’re drunk on Aberdeen Street, smashing bottles and flipping cars as a lovely old man in a bright green cap wanders over and kindly asks you to stop. What do you do?
This year, students partying on Aberdeen will be ed by hundreds of alumni and other volunteer citizens on the well-known street, who will attempt to act as a buffer between police and students. They plan to ask students to trade in bottles for plastic cups, and encourage safe and respectful behaviour. Unfortunately, these well-intentioned volunteers may prove to be a target for undesirable behaviour, especially for the most dangerous troublemakers and out-of-towners with no long-term investment in the school community.
The creation of the “Aberdeen Street Community Volunteers” points to the failing of city council to come up with any effective ideas, particularly their avoidance of harm reduction strategies. When students presented the idea of exchanging bottles, city council stated that it would be like condoning illegal activity. It took one individual from the community, Vinni Rebelo, who decided to take proactive measures to by city council and create a more effective solution than any of the recommendations made by the Committee for the Safe and Legal Use of Public and Private Space (a committee that was established to find solutions to the Aberdeen problem).
While the initiative is irable, it seems that the biggest troublemakers will not take these people seriously. In an attempt to diffuse anxiety between students and police, the alumni may end up taking the brunt of the aggression (whether verbal or physical) because they lack the recognizable authority of officers. At least this year the student vs. police mentality will be offset by sober third party observers that can objectively monitor behaviour from both sides.
Without notifying students ahead of time, hundreds of citizens attempting to prevent violence may become a huge joke and, unlike police, of this group will have limited methods to defend themselves.
Ultimately, it’s up to students to realize for themselves and notify others of what is unacceptable behaviour. We can only hope that the good-natured citizens, who have no intention of stopping the party but only want to keep it safe and fun for everyone, will not be met with the same hostility as police in previous years.
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