All hands on deck for Waterloo universities homecoming

It's all hands on deck this weekend in the City of Waterloo as university students celebrate homecoming.

Although the revelry has historically been tame when compared to that in other cities such as Kingston and Guelph, local officials aren't taking any chances.

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Teams of police officers, firefighters, paramedics and bylaw officers will be stationed throughout Uptown Waterloo and around Wilfrid Laurier University, according to Shayne Turner, director of municipal enforcement with the city.

'We're going to have a fair amount of officer teams in the neighbourhoods this weekend," he told CBC. The teams will go door to door, letting students know what is and what is not acceptable behaviour during homecoming weekend.

"We'll also be able to respond to any complaints around, say, noise or garbage or nuisance that comes up," Turner added.

This is the way Waterloo has been dealing with homecoming for the last few years, and Turner said that while it hasn't been without incident, it has largely been successful.

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Wilfrid Laurier University is a major partner in the door knocking campaign, and plans to send 23 university representatives with the officer teams.

This year, the university has another initiative in the works. Over the course of the weekend, students living in Laurier residences will need a colour-coded wrist band to get in or out.

"We feel that will just reduce the number of non-Laurier community people that will be staying the weekend," said Kevin Crowley, director of communications and public affairs.

He said the university will also have 40 special constables on duty, as well as Waterloo Regional Police officers and security guards keeping watch over the property.