A true “Homecoming, as it should be” is how Kingston Police describe this year’s event at Queen’s University, which came in well under budget and with very little negative press.
Kingston Police published its Queen’s Homecoming 2024 Report before the Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, meeting of the Kingston Police Services Board (KPSB). However, due to a packed agenda, Inspector Greg Sands’s presentation on the report was pushed to the meeting on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. With this year’s Homecoming and Fauxcoming operations coming in at more than $100,000 under budget, the board was clearly impressed with the work done. As Sands put it, “It felt like a real Homecoming.”
It’s been nearly 100 years since Queen’s University began celebrating Homecoming.
“It was an opportunity for alumni to reconnect and to support the school’s football team,” Sands reminded the board, but “somewhere in that history, it was hijacked by students [who] turned it into large street parties and public disorder and damage to property.”
Kingston Police have tried numerous approaches to fix the issue over the years, and there has been a steady improvement, Sands reported. This is due to the exhaustive list of community partners, neighbouring police services, police liaison officers, “and then, of course, our own Kingston Police officers, our special officers, our civilian staff, and the Kingston Police Community Volunteers. It literally takes our entire organization.”
“This Homecoming 2024 was scheduled for the 18th and 19th of October, and it actually looked how a Homecoming should look. There were a number of alumni spotted around the city. The football game was sold out and very well attended, with a few backyard parties with only a few becoming an issue and our members report that they were met by fine, respectful people. So that weekend, kudos to those who attended, it was actually really what a homecoming should look like,” he continued, noting there were no “street takeovers” that weekend or the weekend of October 28, which is the weekend deemed “Fauxcoming.”
Sands thanked everyone who worked to make the fall better this year, acknowledging, “We know that this age group, it’s not unique to any university or anything like that, this age will party and blow off some steam. We get that. We are very fortunate here in Kingston to have strong community partners: the University itself, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston Fire & Rescue … everybody that’s involved in the weeks proceeding and then over the weekend to make sure that the entire event is safe for the entire Community.”
Mayor Bryan Paterson thanked Sanders for his presentation, saying, “I think it was just a couple of years ago we spent a million dollars dealing with this. So seeing that come down to $250,000: congrats to the team! You know, it’s been a long journey, but [this is] very, very happy and refreshing.”
Police Chief Scott Fraser gave credit to his staff, saying scheduled shift changes allowed for overtime costs to be kept to a minimum.
Professor Christian Leuprecht, a member of the KPSB, also extended kudos.
“We’ve seen the shift from a reactive posture policing to a proactive posture, working with the students, working with the community. And I just want to commend you both on the leadership that you’ve shown,” he remarked.
The police chief also extended credit to the police liaison teams that go into the community, touch base with
