FOCO street party: Fewer injuries but number of partiers jumps to 25K
Task force will continue to look for ways to curb illegal street parties.
When it comes to how the City of London and Western University administrators dealt with this year's unsanctioned student street party on Broughdale Avenue, it's a mix of good and bad news.
City officials held a debrief on Monday afternoon to discuss how the city dealt with the now-annual student party. In recent years, the event has grown to unsafe levels.
The good news
- No serious injuries Many intoxicated people crammed onto what is otherwise a small, dead-end residential street, but hospital visits were down (31 compared to more than 50 last year). There were fewer people on rooftops, a dangerous activity that led to serious injuries in previous years.
- Better behaved crowd Hard to say whether it was the fear of tougher bylaws, worries about punishment from an expanded university conduct code or the placement of surveillance cameras on telephone poles, but there were fewer charges (14 arrests, 62 tickets 2070 warnings) and no criminal charges. London Fire Department issued two charges under the fire code and issued 592 warnings related to overcrowding and people on roofs.
- Strong attendance at Purple Fest This is the sanctioned, on-campus concert put on by Western Students Council (USC) as a way to draw students away from the Broughdale party. At its peak, attendance was estimated at 13,000 people. That's a good number considering the fact that headliner A$AP Rocky was held up at the border by a legal issue and didn't show.
The bad news
- More partiers For the third straight year, the number of partiers who turned up on Broughdale increased. At the midday peak of the party, about 25,000 people were crammed onto the street. That's an increase from 20,000 last year and about 12,000 in 2017. "That is hugely significant," said Mayor Ed Holder. "Do we wish that we didn't have to deal with this at all? Of course. That's naive though, so you look at what you can do."
- Higher policing costs This year's bill for policing alone will be $300,000, up from $200,000 a year ago. London Police brought in extra officers from Hamilton and York Region. This doesn't include other costs the city incurred, including preparation and cleanup. In total about 150 officers were deployed on Saturday.
- Shut down of Richmond Street As the party grew, police shut down Richmond Street to traffic for more than four hours starting at noon. The swelling crowd walking along Richmond near Broughdale was becoming a safety concern. The long closure, a first for this party, caused traffic problems in North London all day.
- More large parties Large parties at houses were greater in number this year, and weren't just confined to Broughdale. "The crowd was more dispersed this year making it more difficult to monitor," said Chief Stephen Williams. While the crowd was more compliant there were still people on roofs, climbing trees and partaking in other dangerous behaviour.
- Lots of 911 calls In a 24-hour period on Saturday police received 809 calls to 911, double what is typical for a Saturday.
Mayor Ed Holder responding to question about whether fewer arrests is now the new meas ure of success for how the city deals with the student street party. Says the growth in party size is a concern, but says these parties are happening in other communities too. <a href="https://t.co/EcIrGZLoSj">pic.twitter.com/EcIrGZLoSj</a>
—@AndrewLuptonCBCOther takeaways
In addition to praising the work of first responders on the ground, Holder gave high marks to a task force formed earlier this year to come up with ways to deal with the growing street party problem.
"There was clearly better planning and better coordination than in years past," he said.
The task force included representatives from the city, Western, student council, fire, police and paramedics.
Holder said the task force will continue its work.
"While there are encouraging signs over the weekend, we must never be allowed to declare 'problem solved," he said.
City manager Martin Hayward said the problem of student street parties isn't unique to London, but part of a trend that's cropped up in other university towns and is fuelled in part by social media.
Williams also said the issue is far from solved.
"Students from not only Western but from other post-secondary schools still attended in massive numbers," he said. "There are still many youth under the age of 19 years drinking."
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