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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Some of the revellers celebrating Caribou Carnival got out of hand on March 27 to 29. RCMP are reporting 94 people were arrested and held over the three days for various offences including mischief, assault, disturbing the peace and violations of the Liquor Act.

There were more police on the streets during the carnival weekend as RCMP had an extra two members per shift working, said RCMP Const. Kathy Law. She said the force's entire drug section and crime reduction unit were out on duty Friday, March 27 - a city-declared civic holiday, effective from noon.

Law said the number of arrests were "average for a Caribou Carnival weekend." She said that the number of impaired drivers was much higher than during last year's half-day carnival. Eight individuals were charged for operating a motor vehicle while impaired, or care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired.

"We really want to get big thank-yous out to the public," said Law. She said many of the calls of suspicious drivers were reported by concerned citizens and resulted in a large share of the impaired charges.

According to RCMP, since Jan. 1, 2009, police have investigated 85 impaired driving complaints.

A total of 134 arrests were made during the weekend of the annual festival in 2006, mainly for mischief and alcohol-related offences. In 2004, 119 people were arrested for public intoxication and 155 people in 2000.