Policing bill for most recent street party near Dalhousie campus was $82K

The cost of policing the last two street parties near the Dalhousie University campus in south-end Halifax was almost $96,000, with roughly $82,000 of that coming from the most recent one last October.

The parties that attracted thousands of young people to the area around Preston, Jennings and Larch streets became a public relations headache for the school, and date back to at least 2017.

Police estimated there were 3,000 people at the peak of the most recent party. They arrested two people and issued almost 100 tickets.

A person was stabbed at the 2022 party.

"I do think that everybody in Halifax should be dismayed by the resources that go into managing this and concerned about what it means for their access to emergency resources as well," said Dr. Caitlin Lees, an area resident who also works in a hospital emergency department.

The policing costs were disclosed in response to a freedom of information request filed by a neighbourhood resident. It said the policing costs were $13,344.26 in 2022 and $82,334.18, a year later.

In a statement, Halifax Regional Police said the force doesn't usually provide details on the number of officers who respond to incidents. It said "given the concerns expressed in relation to the 2022 incidents additional resources were deemed necessary for both officer and public safety" for last fall's street party.

Lees said the police presence was much more visible during this gathering.

"But it was still a huge party," she said. "It was still unsafe. There were still fights in the streets. There are still people trespassing into yards. There is still property damage."

University doesn't say whether it will pay policing bill

Dalhousie declined an interview request and did not answer a question about whether it would pay the policing bills.

Instead, it sent along a three-paragraph statement that said street parties are a complex and growing problem at North American universities, the university is addressing the root causes of the issues and is finding ways for students to feel connected to each other.

The wording borrows heavily from the statement the university provided to journalists after the Oct. 1, 2023, street party.

Dalhousie's plan for dealing with the media

In the days leading up to that party, Dalhousie officials circulated a plan internally detailing how they would respond to questions about the gatherings.

"Our key messages and response to media inquiries will continue to focus on the significant work that has been undertaken in 2022-2023 around this issue," said the plan, which was one of the documents obtained by CBC News through an access to information request.

The plan lays out what types of questions they expected journalists to ask and what the university's messaging would be. But when the street party happened, the university did not respond to specific questions from journalists and instead issued identical statements. The wording in the statements was lifted from the communications plan.

The day after the most recent street party, a joint email was sent from 14 area residents to school and municipal officials. It criticized the university's handling of the party. Lees was among the signees.

Three days later, Rick Ezekiel, Dalhousie's vice-provost of student affairs, responded. He said there wasn't a simple solution.

"We are committed to continuous improvement and note that the pre-planning, speed of mobilization, level of response, and public and employee safety were all improved compared to last year's incident," Ezekiel wrote in the email, which was co-signed by two police and municipal officials.

'The same garble from Dalhousie for 6 years'

This email drew a heated response from one of the homeowners, whose name and email address was redacted from the package.

"So your words about the need for meetings, discussion, social analysis and history of student behaviour are nonsense," wrote the individual. "Nothing has changed in six years."

The same individual also wrote, "I am insulted by [your] PR speak. We've had the same garble from Dalhousie for six years."

'Nobody was stabbed. That's a win'

Lees, who has two young children, said she didn't feel any safer during the most recent street party, but said there were some positives.

"There was no second event in the evening," she said. "Nobody was stabbed. That's a win."

One of the ways the university planned to engage students was through holding an official homecoming event, which was held Oct. 7, 2023. Events included live DJs, a football game, food trucks and a licensed drinking area for students 19 and older.

To promote the event, the university even turned to an unlikely source — social media influencers "who have historically influenced unsanctioned street gatherings."

The university told CBC it has not paid any external parties to promote its homecoming or "campus vibrancy events."

Dalhousie was optimistic students would choose not to partake in a street party.

"We strongly believe many students will choose to engage in Dalhousie's promoted festivities on campus, instead of organizing or taking part in any illegal street gathering," the university wrote in its communications plan.

The plan also laid out how to respond to questions about discipline. The university noted some people who organized and hosted gatherings in 2022 were not part of the Dalhousie community. It also said the university's code of student conduct was applied to "aggregious (sic) behaviour." Due to privacy requirements, the university said it could not speak to the specifics of any cases.

While Ezekiel's email proclaimed certain improvements in the most recent street party response, an email he sent to the university's president and vice-chancellor on the day of the street party noted it didn't go as well as hoped for.

"Unfortunately, it seems the response was a little bit later than we had anticipated and followed after a critical mass had formed," he wrote at 3:15 p.m. AT. "A presence seems to be there now and managing from the sidelines.

"Fingers crossed that it gets under control soon."