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Volume 51 No. 7
BEACHMETRO.COM
May 31, 2022
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Slobberfest fun in the Beach
More police resources called for in wake of ‘horrific’ long weekend By Alan Shackleton
PHOTOS: ALAN SHACKLETON
Community Centre 55’s Slobberfest, a celebration of all things dog, was back in the Beach last weekend. Photo above, helping to put the “slobber” into the festival was Rocco, a King Corso Italian Mastiff and his owners Daniela and Isabel. Photo below, enjoying the day at Slobberfest was (at left) English Setter Penny and owner Jackson, and Irish Setter Fergus with owner Julia.
Election Night coverage online BEACH METRO COMMUNITY NEWS 50TH ANNIVERSARY 1972•2022
SAFETY
Once the polls close on June 2, please visit the Beach Metro Community News website at www. beachmetro.com for Election Night coverage of the results.
AREA RESIDENTS and the local councillor are demanding that a repeat of the violence and rowdy behaviour that took place in and around Woodbine Beach Park and Ashbridges Bay Park on the Victoria Day long weekend not be able to happen again. The night of Sunday, May 22, into the morning of Monday, 23, (Victoria Day) saw seven police officers injured, a shooting, a stabbing and multiple arrests as large groups of young people were gathered in the area shooting off fireworks at each other, members of the public, buildings and passing vehicles. “It’s two years in a row. It’s something we need to be aware of and plan for it, and make sure we have the resources in place,” said Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford in an interview with Beach Metro Community News late last week. Prior to the Victoria Day long weekend the councillor and police had said plans were in place to ensure public safety, deal with litter and the large crowds expected to attend – especially for the city’s fireworks display on the Monday night. However, it appears some of that planning did not take into account large crowds gathered as a result of social media posts on the Sunday night. “When seven front line officers are injured responding to an incident, it clearly indicates we did not have enough resources. They needed more support,” said Bradford. Six police officers were injured after they had fireworks shot at them. A seventh officer suffered a broken leg responding to a shooting call in the area. By the end of the long weekend, one person was injured in a shooting, another in a stabbing, two armed robberies at gunpoint had taken place in the area and 19 people had been arrested on Sunday night and another five on Monday.
After the situation on Sunday night, there was a huge police presence in the area for the city’s fireworks display at Ashbridges Bay Park on Monday. Bradford said lots of preparation among a number of city services including police had gone into how the Victoria Day fireworks display on May 23 night would be handled given it was the first one since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “That was planned with months of preparation for the city’s first fireworks display in three years. There were allocated resources and a proactive response.” Cindy Cass, who co-ordinates the Neighbourhood Watch program in the neighbourhood north of Lake Shore Boulevard East across from Woodbine Beach Park which is referred to as Pleasantville, said Sunday night was terrifying experience for residents in the area. “This was absolutely horrific,” she said. “And the complete lack of respect for authority here. They were approaching the police officers and firing Roman candles (fireworks) at them. Who does that and why?” “I don’t even know what to say about it,” she added. “It was beyond anything I could have imagined.” Cass said shooting fireworks at people and property is terrifying for those who are being victimized, but the fact weapons such as guns and knives were also in evidence made the situation so much more dangerous. She said she felt police had actually prepared fairly well for the long weekend in the area, but the sheer numbers of people coming to cause trouble was simply too much to deal with. “Police can only do so much. There are only so many police,” said Cass. “I think it’s a societal issue. It’s frightening. People were walking up and down the streets firing roman candles. People couldn’t even Continued on Page 7
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