A proactive approach to safety is keeping campus crime relatively low, says Campus Community Police Service (CCPS) Director Elgin Austen.
Campus police investigated 8,513 occurrences in 2009. Of that number, 620 were related to criminal offenses. This is an increase from 2008, where police investigated 7,487 incidents (581 criminal offences).
“I knew our occurrences were up,” says Austen, noting there is fluctuation from year to year. “There really is no specific item that would generate that (increase).
“For basically a city of over 40,000 people, that represented a very good year all the way around.”
Austin attributes a proactive approach to safety and the promotion of a community of respect to helping maintain a relatively low crime rate.
Campus policing is part of a network of 58 safety initiatives at Western and the affiliate colleges, including Foot Patrol, the Fire Safety Department, Equity and Human Rights Services, the Emergency Response Team, and the Risk Management Program. Campus police also work with London Police Service to respond to issues involving the university community.
“It’s a well-known fact that being proactive in dealing with issues is substantially more beneficial than being reactive,” he says.
“It’s less costly, less traumatic, and everybody comes out more aware. There is effort across the campus on networking, as far as communications are concerned, showing respect for others and getting the job done without a lot of conflict. The outcome of all of that is an improved safety.”
Looking ahead Austin says educating the campus about mental illness and promoting supportive services.
In 2009, CCPS engaged in 23,232 activities, an increase of five per cent from 2008.
Of the total number of campus occurrences in 2009, 72 per cent fell in the general category; seven per cent were criminal; 14 per cent were traffic violations; two per cent were fire related; and five per cent involved provincial offences.
Taking a look at CCPS activity in numbers, campus police participated in 8,424 directed patrols; 765 follow-up investigations; and 117 community service projects.
Personal safety incidents
Crime
Assault level 1 – 14
Assault level 2 – 1
Assault police – 1
Criminal harrassment – 14
Sexual assault, level 1 – 2
Sexual assault, level 3 – 0
Weapons offences – 1
Safety – bomb threat – 0
Non-criminal
Customer trouble – 10
Family trouble – no assault – 3
Neighbour trouble – 0
Trouble with persons (over 18) – 61
Trouble with youths – 6
Disturbance – no charges – 34
Suspicious person – 218
Suspicious vehicle – 142
For crimes categorized by level, the lower number represents a less serious offence.