Kelowna RCMP says Canada Day crowd was ‘well behaved’ – Okanagan | 24CA News
As 1000’s descended on Kelowna’s downtown to absorb Canada’s 156th birthday celebration on Saturday, Kelowna RCMP Constable Mike Della-Paolera describes the group as ‘well behaved.’
“There were no real massive concerns, everything kind of went as smooth as it could have gone,”
“It was a pretty tame night in my opinion.”
Several arrests have been made, however Constable Della-Paolera says that’s not out of the peculiar for a crowd of that dimension.
“We made multiple arrests, but it was mostly causing disturbance, people that were too intoxicated to be down there any longer, and a lot of youth were turned over to their parents but that’s not unusual for a big crowd and that’s the nature of that unfrequently,” stated Della-Paolera. “We also had one assault-fight that investigators will look into today.”
60,000 individuals have been anticipated to return to Kelowna’s downtown core for the festivities – and police ready effectively forward of time by including extra assist each on the bottom and on the lake.
“I think the large presence of the RCMP really helped us, and people really appreciated us being there – it was a good crowd.”
“We had over 40 additional officers here for the weekend.”
Just earlier than 8 p.m., as tons of loved stay music at Kelowna’s Island Stage close to Tugboat Beach, Festivals Kelowna introduced that the fireworks present had been cancelled, however no formal announcement was made on social media by both Festivals Kelowna or town, inflicting confusion for some.
“It was the city’s decision to cancel the fireworks, and we were all kind of expecting it with the weather and the fire on Knox Mountain didn’t exactly help,” stated Della-Paolera. “We just decided that the best thing we could do as police officers, was go around and talk to people –spread the word.”
Despite being the bearers of unhealthy news, Della-Paolera stated the group was very understanding given the scenario.
“Nobody was giving us pushback or got angry with us. The fire in a way helped us because people realized how volatile it was,” stated Della-Paolera.” “I’ve been in situations where it goes the complete opposite way, but everybody was just having a good time.”
Global News reached out to the City of Kelowna and Festivals Kelowna, however they didn’t get again to us in time for publication.
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