A Mission RCMP officer was hit in the head with a baton during a rowdy Halloween night that included 56 calls for service.
The officer was dealing with a group of youth near Cedar Street and Cherry Avenue when one of the youth struck the officer in the face and hand with a baton.
Police say the officer was not seriously injured in the incident and an investigation is ongoing.
According to a social media post on Friday (Nov. 1), some of the most significant issues happened near Griner Park and Albert McMahon Elementary School.
Roughly 300 youths were gathered in the area and an array of offences were reported to RCMP.
They included an assault, fireworks shot at cars, rocks thrown at a car, and fireworks set off in the direction of buildings.
“Officers did their best to manage the situation, however, despite additional resources having been scheduled in anticipation of the higher call volume, the sheer number of persons acting recklessly was overwhelming,” Mission RCMP said.
The detachment says a group of youths were kicking and spitting on a police car and trying to open the doors. This came after an officer took a youth inside the vehicle to wait for a parent to arrive.
Arrests were made and multiple tickets were issued for a variety of infractions.
Mission Fire Rescue Service blocked off streets in the area while police worked to disperse the crowd.
Per the detachment’s post, other calls to 911 included a witness seeing approximately 100 youth surrounding police while another called after seeing youth lighting off fireworks right next to police vehicles.
“Mission RCMP thank the public for their calls and concerns during the evening, and also want to thank the youth and adults throughout our communities who contributed to a safe and fun Halloween night in many other neighbourhoods,” the detachment said.
During Halloween last year, Mission RCMP reported an “unruly group” of over 100 youth fireworks at police and jumped on police cars.
Fireworks, bear spray and alcohol were seized from the group last year.
