At this year’s Aberdeen Street party which drew more than eight thousand people, Kingston Police used 200 officers, including 84 OPP officers from the Public Order unit and also a video surveillance unit from Toronto, in order to police the street and ensure the safety of the attendants.
According to the Police Services Board, $352,740 was spent over the course of the weekend. The University has since agreed to meet with the Board to discuss the possibility of contributing to the extra policing costs.
This isn’t the first time this issue has come up. Two years ago, Queen’s voluntarily paid $6,500 to the Board to offset some of their extra policing costs. Last year, however, when the Board sent Queen’s a bill for $84,000, the University refused.
It’s nice to see that this year the University and the Kingston Police are continuing their spirit of cooperation and have at least agreed to sit down to rationally discuss the extra costs incurred by both sides at this year’s Homecoming. That said, the University cannot be held responsible for what happens on Aberdeen Street, and they should not be paying for any of the policing costs. Queen’s set an unfortunate precedent two years ago by their contribution, and would probably take it back now if given the opportunity.
As the University has expressed in the past, it’s ridiculous to assume they control what happens each year on Aberdeen. While Homecoming is a school-sponsored event, the Aberdeen street party is not. The University doesn’t manage the student’s activities off-campus, and the number of non-Queen’s students who attend the party is entirely out of the University’s hands. People come from all over the country to party at Homecoming and it isn’t possible to stop them, regardless of the attempts made.
VP (Academic) Patrick Deane is correct to say that neither the AMS, the University, nor the city can control who attends the Aberdeen street party, and so the University shouldn’t be held financially able. To use Deane’s words further: “It would be a healthy thing for the city of Kingston to realize it has custody of a problem event.”
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