Taming the troubled Fanshawe area

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From out-of-control parties to violent brawls, the residential area around Fanshawe College has earned itself a nasty reputation over the years.

The two most recent violent incidents in the area — a man was attacked in late May at 900 Fanshawe College Blvd. and an altercation in August on Fleming Drive left another man stabbed — have left area residents concerned about what they're in for this year, even though both incidents involved non-students.

With the new crop of students comes a new crop of parties, residents fear. "Most of you (Fanshawe and University of Western Ontario students), most of the time, will be — and do — just fine. But some of you, some of the time, are going to act like idiots. Drunken idiots, to be precise," wrote London Free Press Columnist Ian Gillespie on August 29. "I say this because out-of-control student partying in London has become an annual tradition."

Residents like Anne Patterson, who left a comment on Gillespie's story on the London Free Press website, called Fanshawe students "little demons," adding that living in the area was a "nightmare ... Chaos, hell and total disruption."

According to London Police Service, though, the Fanshawe area may not be as bad as people think. "When you look at (the incident in August) and you look at the one back in May, they're two very serious incidents, but they're no different from other areas of the city that are having similar incidents," said Const. Dennis Rivest, Public Information Officer for London Police Service. "I don't look at (violence in the area) as being a (large) problem right now ... It's a place that people will go to party, but it's a fight like you'd find at other places in the city. I don't think it's as alarming at Fleming as it was in the past."

And with the purchase of the townhouses at 900 Fanshawe College Blvd. this year, and the additional security on the property, the college is hoping to make the area a little safer for everybody.

"We did a security audit (in Kestral Court) this past summer, and so we identified some areas of concern," said Ed Pimentel, Manager of Fanshawe's Campus Security Services. "There was an issue with some of the fencing; lighting was a huge issue there; some deficiencies with the security equipment."

Upgrades to security in the area include a rebuilt and upgraded fence, increased lighting, replacing all security equipment, regular surveillance and on-site security, as well as extra patrols for the first three weeks of the fall semester. "This is part of our patrol area for anyone who's working. It's no different from a residence on campus; we get called out, we patrol, you name it. We're always going through," Pimentel said.

As to whether the security upgrades will have an effect on the number of incidents in the residential area surrounding the college, Pimentel said it was hard to determine. "I tend to think that any time you have added security presence, the better lighting — there's no doubt it'll be a lot safer there. Having said that, I'm not naïve to say that nothing will ever happen there; anything could happen there at any time, under any circumstance."

Rivest said, "I congratulate (the college). Those are fantastic measures that they're taking. I think they're doing an excellent job in caring for the safety of their students and also for others who live in the area. They're being very, very responsible."

According to Pimentel, "Security has authority on any property that's owned or leased by the college in the city of London," and they have authority over students and non-students alike. Security has the authority to lay charges for on-campus incidents of theft, assault, mischief, drugs, underage drinking and other alcohol- related offences, trespassing — "Anything that's really conducive to our environment," said Pimentel.

Security also works with London Police Service in cases involving Fanshawe students. "We are not a substitute for the public police, but we're there to assist in any capacity they want us."