Western University celebrated annual homecoming event on September 24. This year the festivity was attended by at least 6000 people.
Homecoming is an annual celebration of Western University that remains a tradition for 73 years. It starts with a football game that ends in a party that usually causes a lot of police intrusions.
It was a tradition back years ago. Homecoming is a game, usually Western vs Queens. Everyone would just party during the day and it got really crazy, so Western banned the event. And students created FOCO in rebellion,
Andrei Merkulov, Western student
2021 Western FOCO or Fake Homecoming is notorious for alleged crime accusations and damage reports on the streets.
Police report shared in September 2021, said the “unsanctioned student event on Broughdale Avenue and surrounding streets” drew an estimated 2,000 people.
Aerial view of Broughdale Avenue on FOCO 2018.
Picture credit: Screenshot from LPS drone
According to the police “this year some changes were introduced such as closure of several roads, including Richmond Street, at times to ensure the safety of those in the area”. It was done to help ambulances get to accident victims easier and for the police to react faster.
“While most in attendance during the daytime were cooperative with police, the evening hours saw behaviour from some individuals that was completely unacceptable,” says LPS Chief Steve Williams.
In 2021 the report stated that “there were no major incidents” and because of COVID measures the attendance was only one to ten compared to before COVID era.
In 2021 police issued 20 provincial offense act notices under the Liquor License Act and issued dozens of fines for a variety of reasons.
This year the statistics got worse: “162 Provincial warnings, 16 By-law warnings, three Criminal Code charges, two outstanding warrants, one assault police”.
“Last year the police were strict and shut everything down. But this year they are being a little more soft,” concluded Merkulov.
