They gave their school a black eye, risked lives and stuck taxpayers with a bill for thousands of dollars.

In the fallout Tuesday of an unsanctioned Western University homecoming party, one that drew 11,000 revellers to a small street near campus, London’s deputy police chief pulled no punches about the cost.

“My ultimate fear is that somebody is going to die at one of these events,” Deputy Chief Daryl Longworth said, as police listed the more than 60 charges laid in the weekend party on Broughdale Avenue.

For the second year in a row, throngs of students held their own homecoming in defiance of the school moving its event to later in the fall, with colder weather, in a move to nix rowdy student behaviour.

Most charges were for liquor offences and trespassing.

Two criminal charges were also laid.

Paramedics took 37 people to hospital, including one who plunged from a rooftop and was left with a head and spine injury.

In all, emergency crews responded to 54 calls between Saturday and Sunday morning.

Ambulances couldn’t get through the pedestrian-packed streets, forcing first responders to cut through backyards and weave their way on foot through the crowd to get to patients.

While most of the EMS calls were for intoxication, paramedics responded to seven drug overdoses, seven traumatic injuries, three pedestrians stuck by vehicles and a pair of assaults.

Middlesex-London EMS Supt. Adam Bennett said his biggest fear was not being able to reach a seriously injured person.

“We would be worried that these types of gatherings would continue,” he said.

Despite the heavy toll that the massive gathering took on emergency resources, with the police overtime tab running to at least $36,000 alone, students commenting on Facebook after the charges were laid appeared to be of mixed minds.

“This will continue to happen until the school decides to actually work with the students and create a proper homecoming plan,” a post by Kieran Lawlor said. “If they actually care about student safety, they need to do more than an email warning.”

Wrote Cameron Michael Smith, “Perhaps the Western University needs to listen to the students who are dissatisfied with the date they’ve chosen, and invest in the students’ well-being by offering a more supervised HOCO (homecoming) during the preferred timeline.”

A spokesperson for the University Students’ Council, which was not involved in the counter-homecoming, thanked emergency personnel for their work.

“Looking forward, we hope to work with Western administration, LPS and EMS to find a solution that meets student needs while prioritizing student safety,” Jana Cernavskis said, reading from a statement.

School officials and police had urged young people to stay away from the unofficial homecoming party.

But students ignored the warning and promoted the street party on social media.

“Western is disappointed in the actions of some of the students,” vice-provost academic John Doerksen said. “This is not the kind of (behaviour) that we would aspire to.”

Students could face discipline under the school’s code of student conduct, Doerksen said, adding no complaints had been made yet.

“Of course, we’ll be review any formal complaints that come forward,” he said.

University officials plan to meet with police and other community partners to discuss a solution to the alternative homecoming problem.

Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage captured at Broughdale and more charges could be laid.

A full report on the charges, and the final tab for policing the event, will be presented to the police services board at its Oct. 19

Coun. Phil Squire, whose Ward 6 encompasses Broughdale, said he’s not surprised at the cost to taxpayers — a number that could rise.

“I knew there was going to be a heavy cost because of the number of police officers there,” said Squire, who monitored the event from his bike.

Squire praised police for their work, but said something needs to be done before someone is badly hurt.

“I think what we have to do is really take stock of what happened here,” he said.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

jbieman@postmedia.com

BY THE NUMBERS

964: Provincial Offence Act warnings (most for liquor and trespassing offences)

50: Provincial Offence Act tickets (most related to liquor and trespassing offences)

8: Provincial Offence Act arrests

2: Criminal charges

1: Drug charge

8: Bylaw charges laid (three more pending)