Following a number of St. Patrick’s Day gatherings and parties over the past weekend, majority of which took place in neighbourhoods around Dalhousie University, Halifax Regional Police made 5 arrests and issued 86 tickets for a variety of offences including public intoxication and illegal possession of alcohol.

Many participants were disruptive, intoxicated in public and demonstrated a high level of disregard for neighbours, community members and first responders. Despite proactive communications and warnings leading up to the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, these behaviours continued with hundreds of young people gathering in the area and disrupting the local neighbourhood.

Significant operational planning, response and deployment by HRP officers meant that while a broad street level disruption was deterred, yet once again these events caused much inconvenience and reduced quality of life to those who live in the neighbourhood surrounding the university. HRP had to deploy significant resources to manage these events, with officers maintaining a visible presence over an extended period of time during the weekend.

Halifax Regional Police is reminding students and all participants that there are consequences for such behaviour and breaking rules. Unsafe and disruptive actions will not be tolerated. Everyone has a role to play to ensure their actions don’t negatively impact the quality of life in our community.

Source: Release