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HOMECOMING SUMMIT

October 25, 2011

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•Welcome and Opening Remarks•Presentation

•University of Guelph•Emergency Services•By-law Compliance and Security•Guelph Police Services•University of Guelph Student Association

•Open Dialogue•Wrap Up

AGENDA

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University of Guelph

Brenda Whiteside,Associate Vice-President, Student Affairs

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• Year-round educational strategy• Winter & Fall Resource fairs and information about Off-Campus Living• Fall email to all students regarding being a good neighbour • Ongoing articles in the Ontarion regarding neighbourhood issues• Right Foot Forward: Distribution of 1,100 resource packages to

students and an additional 600 packages to off-campus students• Responding to Issues

• Joint visits with City of Guelph By-law to offending homes• Letters from senior administrators in response to events

• Homecoming Preparations for Residence Students• Increase staffing, Paid duty staff and officers• Email to all students before homecoming weekend• Alternative programming on Friday night

STRATEGIES

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RESULTS

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• A large variety of Alumni events ranging from Annual General Meetings to the Football game with the largest number of alumni attending this year

• A Successful Football Game – no major incidents• Key game message: “My team, My Spirit, My Homecoming”• Prior to the game, 1 CCP Sgt and 2 Special Constables• During the game, a strong security presence• Ushers from Athletics watching the stands• Staff from hospitality and Brass Taps for the licensed area• Liquor Inspector was present in the licensed areas the entire

game• All bags were checked for alcohol

• Significant student involvement resulting in a celebration across the City of Guelph

STRATEGIES THAT WORKED

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• Great weather contributed to gatherings and parties before and after the game, and to people staying outside

• A number of daytime celebrations in off-campus neighbourhoods

• A shift in the locations of the student celebrations to across the city resulting in a new community experience to daytime gatherings and student groups in some neighbourhoods during the day

• Visible waits at bus stops as students get to the game or go downtown.

• Difficulty in determining early on whether there was a significant increase in concerns given the numerous partners involved in responding to incidents.

CHALLENGES

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• Working with the Town and Gown Committee, continue to review and refine strategies:• Review key messages and frequency• Encourage students to register off-campus parties with Off-Campus

Living• Increase the number of proactive visits to students living off-

campus• Information mailings for specific neighbourhoods pre-Homecoming• Increase the reach of the Right Foot Forward program

• Participate with partners in a review of Transit Frequency• Review of University events during homecoming weekend

• Consider the introduction of new events• Community involvement initiative• Community Clean-up program

NEXT STEPS

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Emergency Services

Shawn ArmstrongGeneral Manager,

Emergency Services/Fire Chief

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• Fire Department participation in; • Town and Gown Quarterly Meetings• Move Out Madness• Right Foot Forward

• Information booth at the University Centre

STRATEGIES

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RESULTS

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• 6:00 pm Friday Sept 23rd to Midnight Sunday Sept 25th• 50 calls received throughout the City• 15 directly attributed to Homecoming weekend

• 6 of these were on campus• 4 of these were medically related

• Of the remaining 9 calls in the area• 5 were medically related• 4 were accidental alarm activation• These calls were not necessarily student related

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• Demand on Fire services was manageable with existing resources

• Malicious Activation of Pull Station Alarms were low• Emergency Access Routes in the south end remained intact

and unblocked

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STRATEGIES THAT WORKED

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• Ambulance resources were pressured to the point where resources were tied up looking after increased demand and were not available for other calls.

CHALLENGES

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• Further collaboration and training on large event gatherings• Planning and preparation

• Unified approach to command over the event,• Site management principles – work within the incident management

system with reps available to report issues as they happen• Resources are managed within the system to be agile and responsive to

the event.• Resources remain available to address other service demands not related

to the event.

NEXT STEPS

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By-law Compliance and Security

Doug GodfreyManager, By-law Compliance and

Security

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• Developed plans with GPS, Emergency Services and UG prior to school year

• Additional staff brought in for weekend• Visits conducted in conjunction with UG staff to student

residences where a noise complaint was received• Warning letters being issued to property owners

• Responsibility for bylaw compliance of tenants• Enhanced enforcement program

• Areas with previously reported concerns patrolled• Compliance focused vs. enforcement

• Goal was to resolve issue and prevent recurrence• Noise By-law reviewed and recommendations made• Council support

STRATEGIES

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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• Red denotes calls during Homecoming Day

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• Residence visits resulted in no repeat complaints during homecoming

• Staff responded to citizens complaints city-wide• Increase in staff visibility• Reduced repeat offenders • Proactive advisement to residents of noise bylaw• Larger number of students that adhered to bylaws than

violated

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STRATEGIES THAT WORKED

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• Large number of student issues were outside areas/neighbourhoods noted in previous years

• Noise By-law unable to address concerns regarding yelling and crowd noise

• Did not anticipate the quantity of students walking through the south-end to attend football game

• Weather was fabulous

CHALLENGES

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Homecoming Day 2010

Homecoming Day 2011

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• Review of staffing levels• Related to time of calls

• Continue with residence visits• In conjunction with Right Foot

Forward• Continue Collaborative

approach • Guelph Police Service• Emergency Services• University of Guelph

• Participate in review of a Transit Plan for Homecoming

NEXT STEPS

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Guelph Police Services

Bryan Larkin,Deputy Chief of Police

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•Collaboration with municipal partners•Proactive planning with stakeholders•Safe Semester Deployment• Increased allocation of members on foot and bicycle• Crowd Management focused on education, awareness and

enforcement (balanced approach)• Enhanced road safety initiatives and RIDE programs• Creation of South End ACTION team to support Neighbourhood 3

•Public transparency and media awareness•Virtual ride-a-long•Use of social media

•Data driven deployment – directed patrols

STRATEGIES

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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•New deployment models for Safe Semester implemented•Increased visibility•Increased efficiency with planned reduction in over time

• Violent Crime and Crime Severity Index indicated a downward trend

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STRATEGIES THAT WORKED

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• Resources overwhelmed with day time demands (10am-9pm)• Resource “stretch” created delays in non-priority calls in other

areas of the community• Deployment model focused on early evening and night time

activities• Public concerns over issuing warnings vs. enforcement

CHALLENGES

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• Proactive planning with stakeholders for Homecoming• Explore traffic management plan• Work with Guelph Transit to ensure priority access for transportation• Increase support for Right Foot Forward• Collaborate with Neighbourhood Associations for proactive solutions• Advocate in partnership PSB, University to address the impact of “Keg Parties”• Coordinated communication plan with all stakeholders

• Operational Planning for Safe Semester and Homecoming• Increased focus on planning • Coordinated deployment model for 24 hour time period

• Resource allocation• 10,000 person event during the day• 10,000 person event in the downtown core in the evening• Review allocations to ‘Paid Duty’ policing during Homecoming

NEXT STEPS

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CENTRAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION

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Derek Alton,

Local Affairs Commissioner,

Central Student Association

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•Homecoming was success•Lots of positive energy•Majority of students responded well during the event

CSA SUMMARY

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•Increasing student’s understanding of Guelph community expectations

•Improving relationships between students and the greater Guelph community

•Creation of educational videos•Encouraging neighbourhoods to participate in the

Homecoming celebrations•Collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure a safe and fun

weekend for the entire Guelph community

NEXT STEPS

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Open Dialogue

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THANK YOU

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