Police say last night of Celebration of Light was calm
Posted August 2, 2015 11:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There were nearly 500,000 people on the beach at English Bay and in Kitsilano to take in the final display of the Celebration of Light last night.
Overall, Vancouver Police say, things went well and most people behaved. “We had three nights in a row where we had very few problems. We’re going to have some arrests and some minor issues with such large crowds but, for the most part, the arrests that were made were for very minor offences and we were able to deal with any problems that arose very quickly,” says Constable Brian Montague.
“For the last four years that I can remember — I’ve been down here for four years — we’ve had very few problems. So, the changes we made have been working. I think the crowd and the people that come down here understand what to expect, they understand there’s going to be a large police presence to deter those alcohol-fueled fights and disturbances.”
He adds there were more than 360 liquor pour-outs, 22 arrests and 94 tickets issued for things like drinking in public and smoking in parks last night alone.
He says now that it’s over, the VPD will sit down to look at what tactics worked and which didn’t.”It seems to get better every year. We change how we do things. We prepare differently. We plan differently. Every time we police one of these events we do a bit of a self-autopsy to try and figure out ways to improve but the crowds are getting better too.”
Montague adds a lot of the issues they dealt with last night were medical emergencies.
Vancouver Police Statistics for Celebration of Light 2015:
Liquor pour outs
363 (Aug. 1st)
288 (Jul. 29th)
256 (Jul. 25th)
Liquor seizures
82 (Aug. 1st)
25 (Jul. 29th)
27 (Jul. 25th)
Weapons seized
1 (Aug. 1st)
6 (Jul. 29th)
4 (Jul. 25th)
Tickets issued
94 (Aug. 1st)
65 (Jul. 29th)
22 (Jul. 25th)
Arrests
22 (Aug. 1st)
11 (Jul. 29th)
8 (Jul. 25th)
