It will almost certainly be the most expensive pee the young man will ever have.
It cost the unnamed lad, who, late Thursday afternoon, decided to relieve himself on Water Street, $365 - the cost of a public urination ticket given him by a Guelph Police officer.
GuelphToday took a ride-along with Guelph Police media relations officer Mike Gatto on St. Patrick's day to get a sense of what officers have to deal with on one of the busiest policing days of the year.
It started early Thursday - or ended late after starting Wednesday - with the first St. Patrick's Day liquor offence coming around 9:30 a.m.: a young woman charged with public intoxication in the Victoria Road/Arkell Road area.
But by late afternoon things were relatively quiet and by 7:45 p.m. there had been 13 open liquor tickets, two public urination ticket and three house parties broken up by police.Two years ago police handed out 34 open liquor tickets and nine for public intoxication. Last year it was 25 and six.
But it's getting better, says Gatto, a 15-year-veteran of the force.
"It's a community effort that pays the dividends. It's got to be," says Gatto. "Don't get me wrong, we'll still give out lot of tickets as the day goes on, but there's definitely been a change."
There will be an additional four front-line officers patrolling the south end Thursday. The city's by-law enforcement office, who handle most of the initial noise complaints, also adds staff.
"In most cases, the officers have discretion," Gatto says. "But if we see an event, someone's going to get a ticket. There's a lot of people out and about, a lot of people working. It's about common courtesy and respect for the law."
Gatto thinks the cold weather helped keep Thursday afternoon relatively quiet.
"But a quiet day doesn't necessarily mean it's going to stay that way," Gatto says. "It can change."
The cold weather helps.
"One year it was a really hot day on a Saturday .... WOW!" he says.
Around 3 p.m. Gatto pulls police cruiser #122 up behind two young women walking down Cole Road.
One of them, a second-year University of Guelph student, pretty much invites a $125 open liquor ticket by carrying a red plastic cup.
"What do you have there?" Gatto asks the woman, who despite the fact it's about 3 Celsius is wearing shorts and a thin, open-backed top.
"Water ... green water," she replies unconvincingly. After a moment of reflection she fesses up: "It's tequila."
Gatto hands her a ticket then watches her dump out the drink before driving off.
The young woman is extremely polite and respectful, thanking Gatto as he hands her the ticket.
"That's been the biggest change: the students are more respectful to us. Every now and then one will give us an issue, but for the most part they just take their ticket and move on," Gatto says.
Over the radio other officers are conducting a "proactive initiative" by warning a house party. Later in the afternoon officers respond to a York Road house and disperse a party of around 100 people, many of them drinking on the front lawn.
They are mostly drunk, and a little loud, but that's as far as it goes as they head off in cabs and on foot as three police officers monitor the situation and talk with the resident of the home.
"A lot of the time we go to house parties and the person that lives in the house is almost glad to see us," Gatto says. "They invited 60 people and they end up with 200. They're almost frantic because it can get out of control quickly."
University of Guelph Police look after the campus and the large student housing area on Chancellor's Way sees the property manager hire private security.
Guelph Police concentrate mostly on the side streets of the south end of town and notoriously-problematic spots like Reid Court and Cole Road. Later at night the focus will also switch to downtown.
South end bus stops, filled with students heading downtown, are also watched closely.
Before heading back to the station to drop off the reporter, Gatto pulls alongside an unmarked police vehicle and chats with the two officers inside.
"Pretty quiet eh? We've only given out one ticket in two hours," Gatto tells his colleagues.
"That's one more than us," they reply.
They all hope it will stay that way through the night, but they doubt it.
