31 hurt at bashes on Homecoming weekend that drew crowd of 10K

The massive crowd that turned out to celebrate Western University’s Homecoming on the weekend was well-behaved during the daybut things took a turn as night fell, London police say.

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An estimated 10,000 people packed streets around campus and near downtown on Saturday for the annual party for which London police called in reinforcements from three other southern Ontario forces to monitor.

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Large unsanctioned gatherings on several streets – Broughdale Avenue, Mill Street, Huron Street, Epworth Avenue and Mayfair Crescent – ​​kicked off around noon Saturday and into the night, when police closed several of the roads to non-residents in a bid to clear out the roughly 7,000 revellers who remained, police said.

“As the night went on, we witnessed acts of property damage to street signs, trees being uprooted and even damage to police vehicles. The decisions of the involved young adults may affect their own futures and potentially influence others to make similar poor decisions,” Insp. Ryan Scrivens said in an email Tuesday.

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“The night culminated in acts of violence within the crowd in the form of projectiles being thrown at police officers from within the crowd itself. This demonstrates a clear disregard for those who are present.”

Beer cans and bottles were some of the items thrown at officers and police vehicles, police said.

Thirty-one people were treated at the hospital for injuries suffered at the unsanctioned parties, police said.

“Some of these behaviors had the potential for life-changing consequences. We are fortunate that we did not have any serious injuries,” Scrivens said.

Some parties jumped off roofs, police said.

London police charged one person with assault with a weapon and another with possession of property obtained by crime. Officers also dished out 38 tickets for liquor offenses and 16 for traffic violations. City bylaw officers laid 10 charges and issued 249 fines for offenses including public nuisance parties, excessive noise and parking violations.

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Western’s official three-day homecoming celebration drew more than 3,500 alumni from around the world to campus for faculty events, an alumni reception, a varsity football game and a student fan festival, said John Doerksen, Western’s vice-provost of students.

“While unsanctioned street parties took place off-campus, most students celebrated responsibly. London police were quick to respond to crowds as they grew on neighboring streets during the day and later into the night,” he said in a statement.

“We appreciate the work of our community partners on the city’s unsanctioned street party task force, who worked together to make student and community safety our top priority.”

London police brought in reinforcements from police departments in Hamilton, York and Windsor to help control the event that drew a record-setting crowd of 20,000 people in 2018.

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Bringing in outside officers allows London police to respond to large-scale events like Homecoming while still being able to respond to calls for service throughout the city, Scrivens said.

“This provincial teamwork is vital to the success of many large-scale events that occur,” he said “With respect to crowd-related events, these situations require specially trained officers who have a sound understanding of crowd psychology, crowd engagement, crowd management and crowd control, from the front-line officer to the incident commander.”

City dump trucks were used to block off vehicle access to Broughdale Avenue, the epicenter of unsanctioned street parties, and metal barriers were installed in the middle of the road to keep people off the street.

Last year’s font tab for Homecoming was $265,000up slightly from $256,000 in 2021, according to a report presented to the police board earlier this year. The cost for policing this year’s event will be released next year.

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