Kingston introduces stiffer penalties for street parties

Ongoing street parties in the university area have prompted the City of Kingston to issue a new emergency order.

The clampdown is to include increased penalties and new enforcement powers and comes as unsanctioned parties are being cited for a rise in COVID -19 infections and students are being urged to get tested for the virus.

“The large street parties that have been occurring in the University District are appalling and downright dangerous in the midst of a pandemic,” Mayor Bryan Paterson said in a statement Friday. “They have put additional pressure on our emergency response personnel and on hospital staff that are already under strain.

“Our community is fed up with this disrespectful behaviour that is putting everyone at risk.”

City bylaw officers and police have issued dozens of fines and charges as hundreds of students — some being aggressive towards law enforcement officers — have gathered on streets in the area.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, the fine for attending an aggravated nuisance party increased to $2,000 from $500.

Those charged will also be publicly identified.

Kingston Police are also to increase their presence in the university area and immediately issue fines once a nuisance party has been identified.

“It is our hope that increasing penalties and publicly identifying individuals who choose to put the community at risk during a deadly pandemic will serve as a deterrent to illegal social gatherings,” Kingston Police Chief Antje McNeely said.

The fines, administrative monetary penalties, were introduced last summer to address nuisance behaviours across the city, particularly those violating COVID-19 measures. They were introduced, in part, to provide the city with an alternative to Provincial Offences Act tickets that can be disputed in the courts, which were backlogged due to the pandemic.

The fines are processed in a way similar to how parking tickets are handled. Fines can be appealed within 15 days of being issued and can be reviewed by a screening officer. If unsatisfied by the initial review, a fine recipient may appeal to an external hearing officer whose decision would be final.

On Thursday, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Public Health reported seven new cases of COVID -19 in the Kingston area, bringing the total number of active cases in the region to 32.

Among the new cases were five females between the ages of 18 and 29 believed to have caught the virus during close contact with an infected person.

The large street parties that have been occurring in the University District are appalling and downright dangerous.