Police target noisy, drunk students

It's not a new program, but it has been renamed.

“Project Speakeasy,” which started in 2005, is now being called Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise (L.E.A.R.N.).

The initiative, which operates during the months of September and April, aims at addressing the problem of noise and other student related problems in the communities surrounding both UWO and Fanshawe. In co-operation with the university and London Police Services the college is cracking down on disturbances in the area, whether they originate from student housing or otherwise.


“It's not necessarily targeted to students,” LPS Chief Murray Faulkner explained at a press conference on August 28. “It's all geographically located, and not everybody who is charged is a student. When we get a call we have no idea who lives there. And when we hand out a ticket, we don't ask if they're a student.”

But regardless of what Faulkner said, the patrol areas are geographically determined by the number of complaints, and are centered on student housing communities.

During the 2006/2007 academic year Project Speakeasy assigned officers handed out 1,232 provincial violations, which included liquor, noise and highway act violations, and 20 criminal offences.

“L.E.A.R.N. is important,” stresses Bernice Hull, Fanshawe's VP of Planning and Administrative Services. “The program goes where Fanshawe can't- off campus.”

Project L.E.A.R.N. started on August 29 and runs through September 29, 2007 and includes visits to locations that have been tagged ‘problem areas' by Community Oriented Response Unit officers, as well as foot and bicycle patrols in the area. Noise problems will be the unit's main focus throughout the program and the officers are not required to wait for a complaint to be lodged before taking action if a residence is being overly loud.

The project also cracks down on liquor infractions by the public, as well as licensed establishments.

“I can't say whether there will be problems,” Hull continued. “I don't have a crystal ball. But we're committed to do everything we can to ensure that our students fit into the community.”

As for the students themselves, FSU president Travis Mazereeuw believes that no matter how the police sugarcoat the situation the students will feel targeted.

“You can't send more police into a neighbourhood and not expect them to be targeting students,” Mazereeuw said. “That's the way it'll be perceived. Whether it's true or not, is another story.”

However that doesn't excuse students who do get into hot water with the local police.

“Students should know what their boundaries are,” Mazereeuw continued. “How much they can drink, how loud they can party, and know that the city of London doesn't allow drinking on the streets. If you want to drink, stay in your home.

I'm not saying don't have a good time just that the police are in the area in bigger numbers so act responsibly.”