OcrToBER 12, 2006

Katie Smith Contributor: Smith is a student in the journalism program at Holland College

Police are cracking down on partying and noise occurring at Brown’s Court and surrounding apartments across from UPEI.

Deputy police chief Richard Collins said the area experiences similar events every year but for some reason, this year is off to a worse start than in previous years and concerns are growing.

“We're worried about a situation getting out of control and someone getting hurt or someone getting behind a vehicle and driving impaired.”

Although there are some families who live in the area, the majority of the population is students and younger people, he said.

“It’s giving the student population a bad name. I think a lot of people target or blanket the student population,” he said, adding that’s not fair to those who have nothing to do with the problem.

The police, who are really busy on Friday and Saturday nights, are trying to work with the university and Holland College to see what can be done to fix the situation.

“We want to see if, collectively, all v. us can do something to minimize this and to hopefully avoid something more serious happening,’ he said. “We just don’t have the time and resources to put into

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LOCAL Browns Court Becoming Major Concern: Collins

Katie McGarry and Caitlin Brown show off the remains of a couch that was set on fire afier a weekend of partying at Brown's Court last month.

policing one area of the city on a constant basis on the weekends.” Collins said at least a half dozen charges were laid last weekend, mostly relating to alcohol, but he isn’t sure how effective they are. “They often don’t care about the ticket.”

If someone is having a party that’s getting out of control, Collins encourages him or her to call the police.

“We'll do our best to help clear the apartment.”

Maria Trainor lives in Brown’s Court and said she is sometimes scared, especially on weekends.

“We pretty much always lock our doors, even when we’re home.”

She said the noise is out of control and there is garbage and broken glass all around the property.

“My friend drops me off at the crosswalk because she doesn’t want her tires to get busted by all the glass.”

Trainor works at the campus bar, the Wave, and said she is scared to walk home at 4 a.m., and she’s not alone. “Our friend slept on our couch the other night because she was scared to walk home, and she only lives in the residence (across the street).” It’s hard to feel safe, she said.

“TI got dropped off in a cab the other night and there were at least 40 guys standing between me and my house and I was just like ‘Oh God, am I going to get attacked?”

THE CADRE @ | 4

Photo: Katie Smith

Her roommate, Katie McGarry, said there were people sitting outside their apartment on her car and there were a lot of yelling matches going on.

“It’s scary,” she said. “There were cops everywhere, we didn’t know what was going on.”

Another roommate, Caitlin Brown, said she would like to see police around the area every weekend, keeping situations under control.

“T feel selfish, but I would like them here all the time,” she said. “We need security. Security on the weekends would be awesome.” The three girls said they feel embarassed to tell people they live in Brown’s Court because of the bad reputation it has developed. They