London's police board is taking Western University to task over its lack of action on an illegal street party, which resulted in over 100 charges being laid and thousands of dollars in policing costs.
The police board raised the issue during a meeting on Thursday to address the community impact of "fake homecoming," also known as FoCo, which saw an estimated 20,000 party-goers flock to Broughdale Avenue on September 29.
"It's a public safety concern... not only are the people that are directly at the event impacted, but all the policing, fire and EMS [services] that have to attend to that area... that means they're slower to respond to other parts of town if something is happening, and that's just not ok," said City Councillor Mo Salih, who is chair of the police board.
During the FoCo event, a total of 134 charges were laid against 132 people, more than 3,100 warnings were issued, and more than 50 people had to be treated in hospital. The London Fire Department also found fire code violations at 30 residences.
Of the 132 people who were issued charged, 120 of them were students from Western.
Salih said the university's administration needs to do more and "own up" to the problems arising from the fake homecoming event each year.
"I think they have a bigger role to play in trying to address the concerns," he said. "We've seen the costs of policing this event double from the previous year, and that's not even the final estimate."
The cost for policing alone is expected to be more than $100,000, which includes the cost of bringing nearly 30 York Regional Police officers into the city to complement the dozens of officers that were already on duty.
The police board passed a motion on Thursday to draft a letter outlining the board's concerns, which will ultimately be sent to Western's board of governors.
"It's a conversation being led on all fronts from City Hall to the police board because the status quo and what has happened over the past years is unacceptable," said Salih. "Something needs to change drastically."
Salih suggested that one possible solution may be to return Western's homecoming event to its original weekend.
FoCo began in 2016 as a response to Western’s decision to move the university's homecoming event from the last weekend in September to mid-October.
Western University issued a statement the week after FoCo condemning the illegal street party after London Police Chief John Pare said during a news conference that the administration needed to hold its students accountable.