Homecoming weekend was relatively uneventful from a police perspective, at least in comparison to previous years here and what some other cities have experienced recently, participants in a virtual town hall meeting heard on Thursday.
“This last weekend was certainly much quieter than a normal homecoming,” commented Police Chief Gord Cobey, noting there’s fewer students physically attending the University of Guelph due to the pandemic.
The virtual meeting, hosted by Ward 5 councillors Leanne Caron and Cathy Downer, was organized to provide police with an opportunity to provide an overview of recent service initiatives and address questions from residents.
One of those questions was about what police are seeing this year regarding off-campus student behaviours and gatherings, especially in light of the pandemic.
“Compared to other cities like Kingston, like London, we have not experienced the same issues,” responded Sgt. Dustan Howe, referring to student partying in public places and large gatherings which have resulted in a number of fines being issued.
“I know we have experienced issues in certain neighbourhoods and I have fielded several complaints from residents … but compared to years past, the students are doing everything that they can to follow the rules and to continue with their education.”
Howe said he and university staff have conducted more than 50 student home visits so far this year.
“I can safely say this year the students … have been much less raucous and they’ve been following the rules. There have been house parties, but they’re students and part of the student experience is to interact with other students,” he said. “They are doing it within the confines of the provincial regulations – I would say almost entirely.
“We haven’t laid any charges for overcrowding or anything like that.”
As a result of having fewer students in the city, Cobey noted some of the police resources typically dedicated to the Safe Semester initiative, which includes added police presence and other public safety features in the downtown on busy nights, have been shifted to policing the Downtown Dining District.
