Police say assaults rise in Fredericton bar district

Fredericton police chief Barry MacKnight says there's only so much police can do about the increase in weekend fighting in the city's downtown.

 Last year, he says police dealt with more than a hundred common assaults outside bars and restaurants in the Tannery area.

 That's an increase of 71 per cent over 2008.

 MacKnight says in 2006, police, bar owners and others in the downtown prepared a report on dealing with the alcohol problem in the Tannery.

 He says it's time to review and update the recommendations it made.