In a letter dated Jan. 12, Vice-Principal (Academics) Patrick Deane told Kingston Police the University would not pay the $84,000 requested to cover the costs of the increased police presence during the Aberdeen Street party. We commend the University for refusing to yield to the city on an issue for which the institution is quite clearly free of any responsibility. The party on Aberdeen Street was not a University-sanctioned event, and as such, the University is not responsible for the incidents that took place. The University planned its own event as an alternative to students in an attempt to deter them from attending Aberdeen. Well-known bands like Metric and Billy Talent were booked to appeal to more students, which cost the University $200,000.
The Kingston Police are seeking compensation from the University on the basis that Queen’s students were present at the Aberdeen Street party and contributed to the events that ensued. While the actions of some Queen’s students certainly contributed to the chaos, if the police’s logic holds true, they should also be approaching Dalhousie, RMC, and all other universities who had students present on Aberdeen. But they’re not.
In the weeks following Homecoming, there was a lot of emphasis placed on town-gown relations and how students’ behaviour during Homecoming severely compromised these relations. But the request of the Kingston Police has also hurt town-gown relations by reinforcing the “us” and “them” mentality. Other Kingston residents would never be expected to pay extra for police service at a post-bar brawl. The police’s request singles out students as separate from the rest of the community, apparently expecting them to pay double—through taxes and tuition—for a municipal service at an incident most Queen’s students stayed away from. To date, no Queen’s students have been charged with any criminal offences related to Aberdeen.
In a responding letter, Police Chief Bill Closs wrote: “By refusing our reimbursement request and ignoring our sensible proposals for strongly discouraging such activities as occurred on Aberdeen Street in 2005, it can be easily interpreted that Queen’s is ively sanctioning street parties and the resulting behaviour.” But here’s the thing: first of all, requesting $84,000 is in no way “sensible.” Secondly, the University showed is disapproval of the “street parties” and “resulting behaviour” by refusing to sanction such events and even going so far as to offer an alternative event that cost more than double the amount requested by police.
Rather than consistently blaming Queen’s students for the strain on town-gown relations, the police should recognize that they have fuelled it too. Queen’s students do have to shoulder some of the blame for the mayhem, and they will during non-academic disciplinary hearings. But the University is not to blame for what happened at Homecoming, and shouldn’t be footing the bill.
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