The University of Western Ontario has enlisted the expertise of a lawyer and former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to undertake an independent review of the arrest of a student that raised concerns about how a campus safety incident was managed.
“Safety of all members of our campus community is a priority at Western,” says Western President Amit Chakma. “Our goal in undertaking this review is to have an objective assessment of what occurred and determine if there is anything the university could do differently or better in the future.”
The review will be conducted by Gwen Boniface, who served as Commissioner of the OPP from 1998 to 2006. Boniface holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Osgoode Hall (1988). After retiring from the OPP, Boniface served as the Deputy Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate from 2006 to July 2009. The Inspectorate is an oversight body that promotes excellence and accountability in the Garda Síochána, the police service of Ireland.
“The fact that we have such a high profile individual has nothing to do with one thing or the other; it simply has to do with our desire to get the best possible advice we can and we just found the right person,” says Chakma. “I am so thrilled and grateful to Gwen for doing this … She brings such a wealth of experience and credibility, both internally and externally.”
The incident at Western occurred on October 14, when a student, who appeared disoriented, confronted a number of individuals in the Social Science Centre, barricaded himself in an office, and was able to escape when campus police attempted to detain him. Soon after, the student was apprehended by campus police and London Police officers. A video of the officers attempting to restrain the student was posted on YouTube, attracting the attention of the national news media and thousands of viewers.
“From the day this incident happened, we said we would conduct a review to understand better the full context of the events of October 14th, of which only 90 seconds were shown on the video,” says Chakma. “I have confidence in our Campus Community Police Service and its officers. I believe this review will contribute to our ongoing efforts to ensure a safe campus community.”
The independent review will look at policies and procedures, including:
• Whether the situation was preventable
• The training and resources available to Campus Community Police Service
• Procedures for response to calls for assistance
• Procedures for securing areas where an incident may be occurring
• Coordination with other responders such as London Police Service
Western has not issued a timeline for the review process. Recommendations from the review will be made public.
“There is no black and white in these sorts of things; probably there is a gray area. I have been begging with people not to come to any premature conclusions,” says Chakma. “Yes, we can have our opinion, but at the end of the day we have to pay a great deal of attention to what experts say.”
The review will solely focus on Campus Community Police because Western does not have jurisdiction over London police.
In addition to the review, Chakma says a committee has been established to look at how to support students who need help.
“Very early on it became clear that an independent review was required, even if we are doing the right thing, to restore confidence in my mind,” he says.
“It is not the safety of one individual; it is the safety of a community. All of us would like to know that even when something terrible happens, we have adequate policies and procedures in place, appropriate people in place, to deal with those issues.”
A separate “use of force” review of the actual confrontation seen on video is being conducted by the London Police Service in keeping with provincial standards and regulations. Chakma says Western is cooperating fully in that review.