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City Councillor calling for closure of after hours clubs! (pg. 3)
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| Jayx1 |
OK so this IS getting big already. Well i guess the new chief needs a pet project. Funny how its almost the same as new chief Fantino's pet project was 6 years ago.
Lets see what happens thurs. If club owners cant get it through their thick skulls then let the writing begin! |
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| Matt |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
You need to be registered to view that. Can you post it please? |
My bad
| quote: |
Long nights loom for cops on clubland beat
Nightclub district a policing puzzle
Force stretched by summer crowds
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
He sits dazed and bleeding at the edge of a parking lot, the gash over his eye tended by his girlfriend. She wears a micro-mini, green flip-flops and might or might not be 19, legal drinking age. Several police officers go back and forth, stepping around her bare legs stretched out on the sidewalk.
The alleged attacker slumps nearby, his handcuffed hands behind his back, palms upturned.
It's 2:20 a.m. last Sunday on Peter St. south of Adelaide St. W. and another night in Toronto's downtown entertainment district is winding down.
For the teenaged suspect, it's not one he's likely to forget.
"Officer, do you have to take me in the wagon?" he grovels as he climbs to his feet, assisted by one of the arresting officers. "Do I have to spend the night in jail? It wasn't my fault."
For Staff Sgt. Chris Fernandes, the officer in charge of clubland on this night, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Nor is the clubber whose hair catches fire, the drunk who ends up like "Swiss cheese" after putting his foot through a window, nor the club-goers responsible for other late-night shenanigans.
And now a key hour approaches when the former Emergency Task Force member must decide whether to start cutting back on some of his man — and horse — power.
He decides it's too soon.
"It could hurt you if a bar lets out 2,000 people."
There is a widespread feeling in policing circles that the entertainment district is a disaster waiting to happen. There are worries about threats to public safety from overcrowding, fire code violations, traffic congestion and threats of violence.
Police and some residents believe the city is handing out too many licences to new clubs and that there are too many clubs in too small an area.
There is mounting pressure for beefed-up policing from area residents, who prepared a report last year blaming an "intense concentration of nightclubs" for creating an "out of control environment" involving, by police estimates, between 30,000 and 60,000 descending on the area on active club nights (usually Thursday, Friday or Saturday).
Property damage, litter, racing cars, blaring bass systems and the stench of urine are among resident complaints.
But there has also been major crime in clubland, including two late-night homicides in 2003.
Police have made changes to the way they patrol clubland. On the busiest nights officers now start with a strategy session early in the evening that builds a structured, focused plan covering the area.
Things have been relatively quiet over the winter months, but the warmer temperatures bring out more partygoers.
"You've got upwards of 60,000 people. Add in booze, proximity, youthful exuberance and oh, baby, you've got trouble," says 52 Division Supt. Paul Gottschalk, standing on John St., his arms crossed amid a cacophony of honking horns, driving beats spilling out of the clubs and shrieking girls, many tottering around in stacked heels.
"My nightmare, being unit commander, is having a phone call at 2 in the morning that there is a fire and one of these places is up in flames," says Gottschalk, a white-haired, avuncular man.
"I've got a 15-year-old daughter and she's starting to talk about coming down here with her girlfriends and I'm worried as hell."
The cost of policing the area has grown, sucking resources from other areas in the city. Overtime bills for officers are sky-high and police have proposed club owners help defray some of the costs. Police realize it's a tough sale.
"Politicians don't know what goes on there. They think police are bitching because we want more money," said one police source.
Randall Barrs, a lawyer who represents many clubs in the entertainment district, argues that concerns of police and some residents are overblown.
"Welcome to the big city," says Barrs, who last month won approval for liquor licences for two more clubs in the area, over the objections of some residents.
"Yeah, they (police) have a lot of work in the entertainment district certain nights of the week," says Barrs. "But that's their job.
"Most big cities have areas like this," he adds. "Things do happen when you have a lot of young people in one area, but anybody who reads the paper knows there's stuff going on all over the city — there's bullets going through peoples' houses in residential areas in Scarborough."
Last Saturday night, 49 police officers — some on loan from divisions outside the downtown core, and four officers from the parking enforcement unit — were assigned to the area, bordered by Bathurst St. to the west, Queen St. W. to the north, Simcoe St. to the east and Front St. W. to the south.
They gather at about 10:45 in a location Fernandes requests be kept secret. Let it be said it's a lot closer to the nightclubs than 52 Division on Dundas St. W.
By 10:30 officers start arriving, some wearing yellow windbreakers, others in uniform and tactical gear. Some — the detectives — are in suits. Then there are plainclothes officers, dressed to blend in.
Fernandes must deploy the troops, trying to anticipate where they'll be most effective. He prepares for the evening by gauging such things as weather, the day of the week, and whether schools are in session. Last weekend, university exams were considered. This weekend, they're over and that could boost the revelry.
"It could be really jumping," says Gottschalk.
The biggest weekends by far happen in the summer — Molson Indy and Caribana, he says.
"That's when things get goofy in the extreme."
The area is broken down into five patrol areas. Fernandes goes through the assignments. He calls out two last names: "On beat one," he tells them. "I'll tell you where I want you to cover." He asks them to pay "special attention" to the Peter and Richmond Sts. intersection. "If Richmond gets backed up, close Peter."
Fernandes has a strategy to deal with gridlock. "Close off Peter," he says, "so they have to make a long loop to Spadina — and some lose interest and continue on their way."
Officers on foot and on bikes are dubbed members of the "flying squad," to provide a quick response for emergency calls.
Street-clogging traffic is a problem. Many seem to combine clubbing with cruising — long a youthful ritual that recalls Yonge St. in the '70s and '80s. Compounding the problem are white stretch limousines that seem to be everywhere.
Just as police have their strategy, so do club owners. If a club isn't busy, it's not uncommon to see doormen "holding the lineup" to give the impression that things are jumping inside. But bulging lineups draw police attention when they push pedestrians onto the roadway — a constant problem through the night.
At one point, the crowd is spilling onto Richmond. Adding to the congestion is a stagette party aboard a bus that stops in front of each club.
Down the street, above Pizzaville, patio patrons are tossing stuff onto the sidewalk. "They've been cautioned and they said they'd take care of it," says Sgt. Peter Troup.
The officers prepare for duties by checking their earpieces — everyone is on the same band. Checking his folder, Fernandes tells the group "there will be two wagons tonight, so if you got a prisoner, get in the wagon and out before it causes any kind of scene," or, in policespeak, "collateral attention." He also urges officers with suspects to call 52 Division to let them know what's coming "so they're not bombarded at 5 in the morning."
Fernandes' parting words are "operative word is safety, folks," and a reminder to be on their best behaviour.
Beware pot-smoking club goers: Staff Sgt. Paul Ward has a nose for weed.
He patrols the back alleys and laneways, his flashlight roving over dark corners.
Several times during the night he recites these words, without prompting: "Zero tolerance."
At one point he explains. "Any infraction ... this is costing the chief a lot of money and taking officers from other divisions."
He's no fan of drugs. And his nose knows.
In a brightly lit laneway, Ward sees a clubber raise his cigarette to his lips, apparently trying to draw attention away from the joint he's holding in his other hand. Ward approaches and asks him to turn it over, then charges him with possession of marijuana.
"I'm zero tolerance with marijuana," he says later, holding up a roach inside a large baggie. "I've dismantled so many grow ops, I hate marijuana. This is a public area, and it's still illegal."
Later, around 3:30 a.m., when things get rowdy outside Republik, Ward jumps in to defuse a rapidly escalating situation.
"People, let's go home," he says, guiding one troublemaker away from another. "Are you his girlfriend? Take him."
Later he pronounces on the crowds. "These are not thugs, out to do us in. These are nice people."
Also on duty tonight are members of 52 Division's plainclothes "vice" squad, recently reconstituted in the wake of a corruption scandal involving allegations of bar shakedowns.
Running that unit is Det. Paul Oliver. He wears jeans, running shoes and a bomber-style leather jacket with a can of pepper spray in the pocket. He describes his job as dealing with everything from checking fire exits to levels of intoxication and overcrowding.
While his team, which numbers five tonight, are supposed to be undercover, "there's no surprises. They know who we are."
They visit 12 clubs that night.
"Visibility is really helping us," he says. "By making sure people are seeing you, they remember when they're coming out at 3 in the morning ... (that) a lot of police were out there."
Out on Richmond, while passers-by sidestep vomit on the sidewalk near a worker replacing a just-smashed door, one young woman says to a friend: "There sure are a lot of cops."
While people jockey for position along the congested sidewalks, Dorothy struts along unobstructed.
The black mare wears a shield over her eyes; her rider, Sgt. Arlene Fritz, wears a helmet. A horse is worth about 20 police officers when dealing with an unruly crowd. A horse can move sideways and people have no choice but to disperse, Fritz says.
Near the end of the shift, Sgt. Troup, his bike pulled over to the curb, says: "It's almost like every night takes on its own personality."
If that's the case, last Saturday's was easy going, the warmer temperature perhaps mellowing the booze-fuelled "liquid courage" police are used to encountering. On some nights, they run into a lot of attitude, but on this night they meet with few verbal challenges — just a few sarcastic comments.
"You guys making a calendar?" snorts one merrymaker as Fernandes, Ward and two cops on bikes pass by. Fernandes smiles back and asks if he wants to join the photo shoot. "What month do you want to be?"
With Monday morning comes the post mortem.
"It was one of those nights we had good control, we had good visibility," Fernandes says.
"But ... sometimes there are so many things going on that we really get stretched to our manpower limits, and that will occur as it gets warmer."
The prospect of milder evenings doesn't cheer Liz Sauter, who lives near King St. W. and Spadina Ave.
"We are not looking forward to this summer at all," says Sauter, a member of the King-Spadina Residents Association.
"People will say `well, you moved into the entertainment district, what did you expect'? Yes, we did, but the entertainment district was a balance of restaurants, theatre, movies, sports venues and residential, which is one of the reason it attracted so many people to move into an area that was being rejuvenated....
"If they're going to encourage people to move to the downtown area, it has to be balanced."
But Barrs says it's "really an issue between the interests of different people. Like the cars and the bikes on the street, you can't keep everybody happy."
The area, he says, is "where the action is," adding that the neighbourhood is more desirable than "if all those nightclubs were empty warehouses.
"I understand three or four nights a week this area is somewhat noisy, but these people chose to buy and live in that area knowing exactly what it was.
"It's like someone who buys a house on the 401 and then complains about the car noise."
Additional articles by Betsy Powell
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| Jayx1 |
If this happens im leaving this place for good...
enough is enough |
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| The Highroller |
| quote: |
Beware pot-smoking club goers: Staff Sgt. Paul Ward has a nose for weed.
He patrols the back alleys and laneways, his flashlight roving over dark corners.
Several times during the night he recites these words, without prompting: "Zero tolerance."
At one point he explains. "Any infraction ... this is costing the chief a lot of money and taking officers from other divisions."
He's no fan of drugs. And his nose knows.
In a brightly lit laneway, Ward sees a clubber raise his cigarette to his lips, apparently trying to draw attention away from the joint he's holding in his other hand. Ward approaches and asks him to turn it over, then charges him with possession of marijuana.
"I'm zero tolerance with marijuana," he says later, holding up a roach inside a large baggie. "I've dismantled so many grow ops, I hate marijuana. This is a public area, and it's still illegal." |
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
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| infinity HiGH |
I love how all the talk is about 2:00AM to 4:00AM and they try blaming the AFTERHOURS scene for all the problems! What a in joke!!
I hope they realize that if they kill Toronto's nightlife, they'll pretty much kill tourism. Who the will want to come to Toronto if you can't party past 2? |
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| zoogla |
| Well if all else fails (GOD FORBID) there's always Montreal...:rolleyes: |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by fayraree
Well if all else fails (GOD FORBID) there's always Montreal...:rolleyes: |
Im going to Europe if these guys put me out of work...
this place... seriously |
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| The Highroller |
| Not even 5 minutes after turning on CP24 do I hear about this bull. I don't feel very good about this... |
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| Jayx1 |
Excerpt of Too much for much transcript originally aired in 2000:
Just a small sample of how the media, police chief and politicians distorted things back then:
http://www.chumlimited.com/mediaed/guidepage_much.asp?studyID=27
| quote: | 1. An opening montage of news clips provides some background for the speakers' comments, including a shot of handguns that were seized at raves, according to Julian Fantino, Toronto Chief of Police.
Tom Godfrey, the Toronto SUN rave reporter, says, "I haven't heard of any weapons being seized at raves."
A little later, Sergeant Clark states that 'no guns have been seized at raves.'
Might Fantino's statement have been taken out of context, and originally been made about gun seizures at after hours clubs rather than raves, or might the police have been trying to create a connection between handguns and raves?
Why might police want to regulate raves? If the police are not upset at thousands of youths having a good time, what IS their concern? |
Later it turned out that they were talking about Spin Cat which was a gang infested hole in the wall yet they tried to link it to raves at the better living centre. |
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| hardcore trancer |
FFS I work at a so called hiphop club and I go to alot of after hour places and I can honestly say these in politicians dont know .There is 10X more violents in the top40 or hiphop clubs and drugs are in everywhere and anywhere so why pick on after hours?
whats funny is that nobody in mentions the stabings that happens almost every week in the club district in the top 40 clubs and the hop clubs.
Why only blame after hours for all the problems in the club district.If they want to shut down Film go right ahead that place has always been ed anyways.I know people walk in and out with guns and there is alot of altercation every week.lots of mobs and drug dealers involved in that place so I can give two s if they want to shut that hole down.But to come and generalize the whole scene because of one club is just in stupid.
I think they should look at other after hour clubs in other cities ie.Montreal.I know Toronto is abit more violents compare to Montreal but thats because we have a bigger city and bigger populations so therefor there will always be more problems.
Why cant these politictions try to fix problems instead of getting rid of our night life here?giving up is not the way to go imo.
Iam with all of you on this and if there is ever going to be a demonstrations I will be more then happy to join,I think we should ask all the big djs to join us on this so we can show the politicions how much this means to us and other people who visist this city. |
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| Jayx1 |
They are generalizing not based on Film, but based on that ty palace hip hop club murder.
Here is something i dug up from the Halton Region website:
(Remember these ignorant comments are coming from those who make our laws)
| quote: |
What is a Rave? Top
Raves or all night dance events are "public, all ages, commercial electronic music events, in a special event venue, attended by ticket holders or pass holders and generally extend into hours when entertainment venues are usually closed" (Toronto Dance Safety Committee)
Who goes to Raves? Top
* Generally middle class youth between the ages of 15-25 years.
* The 2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) showed that approximately 18% of students across Ontario in grades 7 to OAC had been to a Rave at least once in the previous 12 months. Significantly more males attend Raves than females. (22.8% vs 12.7% respectively)
* The 1999 Halton Student Drug Use Survey, (HSDUS) showed approximately 15% of Halton Students (grade 7 to OAC) had been to a Rave at least once in the previous 12 months. Male students in Halton are also more likely to have attended a Rave than female students.
Why do people go to Raves? Top
* Raves were originally a place for youth to express themselves through dancing and electronic music in a location away from adult supervision.
* The philosophy of Raves is one of peace, love unity and respect (PLUR), a philosophy that many youth find attractive.
* Over time, Raves have evolved to be very large dance parties where there is easy access to illegal drugs as well as other risks such as dehydration, and risks to personal safety.
Are there Raves in Halton? Top
There have been no reported Raves in Halton.
Should Halton have Raves? Top
The Halton Region Health Department, Halton Regional Police Service, Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board do not support all night dance events in Halton. In Halton, emergency response personnel including police and ambulance are unable to ensure the safety of people at All Night Dance/Rave events due to the higher demand the events create for emergency services.
What are other communities doing about the Rave issue? Top
Some neighbouring communities are working to create by-laws for the regulation of these events. Those by-laws are intended to provide clear guidelines to reduce the potential risk of all night Dance Events/Raves.
What is the difference between an "Above ground Rave" and an "Underground Rave"? Top
* "Above ground Raves"
are highly and openly publicized. Tickets are openly available for purchase and the location is known in advance. Organizers attempt to meet certain criteria for safety such as hiring paramedics and police, as well as meeting fire regulations.
* "Underground Raves"
are organized quickly and secretly. The location may not be identified until the last minute. It is not uncommon for someone to purchase a ticket, get on a bus and be driven to a secret location. The Raves may be held in abandoned warehouses etc.
If the Rave is "Above ground" can I assume it is a safe environment? Top
No. The organizers of "Above ground" Raves have tried to reduce some of the risk involved; however, there is still risk. Issues such as the availability of illegal drugs, crowd control and dehydration still exist.
What is Harm Reduction? Top
Harm reduction is an approach which aims to reduce the risks and harms that can happen when a person makes choices that may involve risks. As it relates to Raves, a harm reduction strategy might be advising someone who attends Raves to drink water to avoid becoming dehydrated.
What risks are there for youth that attend a Rave? Top
In addition to the availability of illegal drugs, issues such as a lack of drinking water, fire hazards, poor ventilation, crowd control, gang related violence and the potential for physical and sexual assault exist.
Does everyone who goes to a Rave use drugs? Top
Not all Ravers use drugs, but many drugs are readily available and used to enhance the Rave experience.
What am I supposed to do if my son/daughter wants to go to a Rave? Top
1. Try to remain calm. It is important to keep the lines of communication open. Communicating with your child in fear or anger may shut down the opportunity for further discussion.
2. Learn about the risks and the strategies to address the risks.
3. Be open and honest about your concerns. Share your understanding of the risks involved with your child.
What about night clubs? Are the risks the same Top
Many of the risk issues that apply to Raves also apply to night clubs. Many clubs have extended hours and very large capacity. Night clubs also involve the risks associated with alcohol use, a drug seen less commonly at Raves. |
Talk about scaring the out of naive suburbanites... |
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