St. Patrick’s Day 2014

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are over for another year, and the London Police Service would like to express appreciation to all who celebrated for doing so responsibly.

In preparation for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, the LPS held consultations with members of the Western Student Council and the Fanshawe Student Union and modified our enforcement approach from one of zero tolerance to a combination of warnings and the issuance of offence notices where appropriate, with the ultimate goal of encouraging responsible and accountable behaviour. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the LPS remained committed to maintaining a highly visible police presence, to facilitate the handling of higher calls for service and increased pedestrian volume.

The result for St. Patrick’s Day was a considerable reduction in the number of offence notices issued (74 – 2014; 274 – 2013). In addition, there were no criminal charges or arrests in connection with St. Patrick’s Day activities.

There were also a total of 190 warnings issued by police for a variety of infractions, including Liquor Licence Act, by-law, and noise complaints.

Although the weather may have reduced the size of the crowds, the partnerships with the Fanshawe Student Union and the Western University Students’ Council were essential in creating an atmosphere of mutual respect. In particular, special thanks to USC President, Pat Whelan, and FSU President, Adam Gourlay, for their cooperative approach to this issue – a great example of Community Policing.

Chief Duncan provided the following observation:

“I am very proud of our community. We worked together to set the expectations for the day, and the message of ‘having fun responsibly’ was heard.”

Over 150,000 Monthly Readers! 1 Million+ Across the entire FreePress Network.