This article was previously published on GuelphToday.
The bill is in for Homecoming weekend, and it is a bit lower than a year ago.
Guelph police say police patrols related to the weekend cost the service just over $73,000.
That does not include additional fire and paramedic costs incurred that weekend.
“For us, it was a significant resource deployment, which included over 83 of our members being deployed throughout the day … but the event itself is quite significant,” deputy chief Steve Gill told the Guelph Police Services Board Thursday.
“This year up at Chancellors Way, just off Edinburgh Road, there was thousands of students who gathered.”
The University of Guelph helped police out financially, covering more than $18,000 of the cost.
U of G says it spent $20,562.35 this year to fund an increased security presence with “both campus safety officers and Guelph Police Service officers.”
“There is also a full complement of First Aid Response Team volunteers serving official Homecoming events at all times and a campus alcohol recovery room to support those who need to recover from over consumption of alcohol or other substances,” U of G spokesperson Jessamine Luck said in an emailed statement.
Last year, Homecoming weekend cost $97,000. Guelph police picked up $76,000 of the tab, while U of G covered the rest.
For the City of Guelph, the bill came out to $741.73, with most of it due to labour.
Gill said there were numerous noise complaints and some complaints of assaults.
According to a news release from Guelph police, several people were sent to hospital due to intoxication. There were also fireworks discharged at around 11:30 p.m. in the Chancellors Way area, but nobody was hurt.
Police say the only major incident from the weekend of Sept. 28 was an alleged stabbing.
An Etobicoke man, who said he was not a U of G student, was sent to hospital after reporting he was stabbed in the abdomen during an altercation. Police say the man approached an officer at the scene of the unsanctioned gathering around 9 p.m.
The investigation into that incident remains ongoing.
