Kingston Police are working to keep partying students in Kingston’s University District off the streets and on lawns and sidewalks on Saturday afternoon.

Leading up to the weekend, Queen’s University staff had asked students to abandon the annual unsanctioned parties in light of the current measures being taken by various organizations, businesses and venues across the city to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by cancelling large public gatherings.

Still, thousands of students are partying in yards and houses in the area surrounding the Queen’s University campus, leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, despite the university’s request that they refrain from gathering.

It’s an annual tradition that can see as many as 10,000 people cram into a few city blocks.

The crowds were not as dense as usual as of 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“Right now we are keeping Aberdeen Street open,” Kingston Police Sgt. Steve Koopman said while working alongside other officers to keep students from blocking area roads.

“Right now we don’t seem to have as much of an influx as in past St. Patrick’s Days or Homecomings. Normally by this point, they usually have actually taken over the street. While we have a lot of people on the sidewalks and there are some backyard parties, for the most part, we are able to contain it. We’ll see how the rest of the day goes and we’ll go from there.”

Koopman said that in the past, there have been anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people on the street.

“We don’t have that number yet, from what I see. They are more scattered and sporadic,” Koopman said. “If anything, that’s OK by us. So people keep moving, (and) if they stay on private property if they’re consuming alcohol and they’re not endangering themselves, (it’s) keeping the roadways open.”

Officers are on foot, asking students to stay off the street and reminding them about the University District Safety Initiative, which allows that, if they are ticketed for any offences, they will be summoned to appear in court to answer to those offences.

“We have multiple officers out in the University District today trying to let people know about the (University District) Safety Initiative, and the Nuisance Party Bylaw,” Koopman said. “We have multiple bylaw officers on us as well.”

The University District Safety Initiative will be in place until Wednesday, March 18, as students have said that they plan to party on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, as well as Saturday.

By early afternoon, Frontenac Paramedic Services and Kingston Fire and Rescue had already responded to at least one call due to an injury from flying glass.

mbalogh@postmedia.com