Police anticipated 'worst-case scenario' by deploying sniper at St. Patrick's Day party, says former officer
CBC
The sighting of a sniper on Saturday during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Waterloo was met with fear and shock by some partygoers, but one policing expert says this was a proactive measure designed to keep the crowd safe.
Scott Blandford is a program coordinator for public safety and policing programs at Wilfrid Laurier University and a retired police officer with six years of experience as a tactical officer on the Emergency Response Unit.
He says having a police sniper at large crowds or gatherings is necessary due to the potential threat.
“Whenever you have a large group of people together, even if it's unrelated to any incident or context of what is going on in the world, it presents an opportunity for those that wish to create a statement through a terrorist activity or through some form of violence," Blandford told CBC News.
Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) confirmed they deployed a sniper last Saturday during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Waterloo, following videos and photos circulating online of the sniper on a balcony overlooking an unsanctioned party on the streets of Waterloo.
"This is something that happens regularly at planned or unsanctioned events that we know there'll be a large presence of public members," Const. Melissa Quarrie, a spokesperson with WRPS, told CBC News.
"It does occur at large-scale events, not only with the regional police service, but our policing partners across the province and across Canada."
Blandford says the presence of a sniper allows police to be in a position to react, instead of having to respond to a situation.
"If you have an incident that's happening deep inside that group of people, the officers have to wade through that large group to get there and be able to identify where exactly what's happening," he explained.
"If you have an over watch position with the high ground position, you can see what is going on. You can direct officers on the ground to it, and if necessary, you can create an immediate intervention as well."
He says snipers are deployed based on risk assessment. Police take into account what the situation is, who’s gathering and what the potential threats are.
"In this case, because there's a large group of people, it's a well-known holiday, there's alcohol involved, it's very easy for people to infiltrate into a crowd if they wish to do harm," Blandford said.
Some of the partygoers told CBC News they left the crowd after spotting the sniper because they were shocked and afraid.
"I don't understand why they thought it was necessary. I'm not too sure why it was out in the open. That made it seem more of a threat than protection," said Annelise Meerton, an Australian international exchange student who took video of the sniper.
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