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July 7th/07
In a new effort to keep rowdy club-goers at bay in Toronto's entertainment district, police have taken an age-old tip from high-school dance chaperones: When Stairway to Heaven ends and it's time to leave the gym, turn on the lights.
Each weekend, scores of officers, including some on horseback, struggle to manage the crowds of thousands that spill into the district's streets as its massive nightclubs close, and the drunken fights, vandalism and noise have local residents - including some in newly built condos - increasingly upset.
For the past three weekends, police have hooked up a nine-metre-tall "stadium light" tower, which they use to briefly throw midday-sun-like light onto key corners in the entertainment district as potentially unruly crowds gather after last call. They hope to have a second powerful light tower, also running on a portable generator and using four 1,000-watt bulbs, in use as early as this weekend.
"Light it up, and it has that scattering effect," said Superintendent Hugh Ferguson of 52 Division, who oversees policing in clubland.
"Perhaps because the message is, oh jeez, must be time to go home."
Supt. Ferguson said the problems in the area have actually eased a bit since the introduction of the lights.
He added, though, that the improvement was likely also due to other new measures, including well-publicized, closed-circuit security cameras and making police officers more visible with reflective safety vests.
The average weekend used to see 20 to 25 arrests in the entertainment district, he said, but the past few have been averaging around eight to 12 despite an increase in activity as the weather warms up.
"There has been a difference over the last month or so, but I would hate to say it had to do with just one factor."
Supt. Ferguson said he would like to see the lights made permanent fixtures in the area, something local city Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) says he hopes to have paid for by the club owners themselves.
Mr. Vaughan, who has been waging a campaign against what he calls the "hooligans" who invade the club district in his ward every weekend, says he thinks the lights are having a dramatic effect.
"No one likes to see who they are going home with" after a night of drinking and dancing, said Mr. Vaughan, who has proposed demanding that club owners pay for special licences for lineups that spill onto city sidewalks. "... It has really calmed the area down."
Supt. Ferguson said it was Police Chief Bill Blair who championed the lighting idea and made calls to city officials to allow police to borrow the city-owned equipment, which is meant to be used by city crews for in-the-dark road repairs or other nighttime emergencies.
"The chief pushed the idea forward for us," Supt. Ferguson said.
"He certainly made the phone calls for us and made it happen."
In a new effort to keep rowdy club-goers at bay in Toronto's entertainment district, police have taken an age-old tip from high-school dance chaperones: When Stairway to Heaven ends and it's time to leave the gym, turn on the lights.
Each weekend, scores of officers, including some on horseback, struggle to manage the crowds of thousands that spill into the district's streets as its massive nightclubs close, and the drunken fights, vandalism and noise have local residents - including some in newly built condos - increasingly upset.
For the past three weekends, police have hooked up a nine-metre-tall "stadium light" tower, which they use to briefly throw midday-sun-like light onto key corners in the entertainment district as potentially unruly crowds gather after last call. They hope to have a second powerful light tower, also running on a portable generator and using four 1,000-watt bulbs, in use as early as this weekend.
"Light it up, and it has that scattering effect," said Superintendent Hugh Ferguson of 52 Division, who oversees policing in clubland.
"Perhaps because the message is, oh jeez, must be time to go home."
Supt. Ferguson said the problems in the area have actually eased a bit since the introduction of the lights.
He added, though, that the improvement was likely also due to other new measures, including well-publicized, closed-circuit security cameras and making police officers more visible with reflective safety vests.
The average weekend used to see 20 to 25 arrests in the entertainment district, he said, but the past few have been averaging around eight to 12 despite an increase in activity as the weather warms up.
"There has been a difference over the last month or so, but I would hate to say it had to do with just one factor."
Supt. Ferguson said he would like to see the lights made permanent fixtures in the area, something local city Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) says he hopes to have paid for by the club owners themselves.
Mr. Vaughan, who has been waging a campaign against what he calls the "hooligans" who invade the club district in his ward every weekend, says he thinks the lights are having a dramatic effect.
"No one likes to see who they are going home with" after a night of drinking and dancing, said Mr. Vaughan, who has proposed demanding that club owners pay for special licences for lineups that spill onto city sidewalks. "... It has really calmed the area down."
Supt. Ferguson said it was Police Chief Bill Blair who championed the lighting idea and made calls to city officials to allow police to borrow the city-owned equipment, which is meant to be used by city crews for in-the-dark road repairs or other nighttime emergencies.
"The chief pushed the idea forward for us," Supt. Ferguson said.
"He certainly made the phone calls for us and made it happen."
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