When we feel in danger at U of T we can be assured that our own campus police force is there to help us, but what happens when they are themselves threatened? Attacks on the special constables of U of T have shown a marked increase this year and as a result there will be new allowances for them to better arm themselves in the near future. Batons have been approved for use and we may see police carrying them by February according to Staff Sergeant of Operations Sam D’Angelo.
It has not been students, but non-U of T community members that have been responsible for the attacks. The four attacks that have occurred this year are not serious in terms of injury-they amount to “bumps and bruises for the most part,” but D’Angelo considers any conflicts that become physical to be serious.
Currently the police use verbal de-escalation techniques to deal with conflicts but now feel that it is not enough. “Normally people don’t fight back, but when they do it’s different,” said D’Angelo. The incidence of violence towards police is on the rise in general and D’Angelo sees the rate of campus police attacks as part of this bigger problem. He attributes the attacks to socio-economic problems, frustration, displaced anger and often mental illness, added to the tendency for many people to view the campus as public space.
D’Angelo stresses that the new baton allowance will be accompanied by extensive training and safeguards. Written and practical tests must be passed by the police in order for them to receive their baton certification, and if they pass they will receive baton instruction as part of their use of force training. D’Angelo also made clear that baton use will also be reserved for only very particular circumstances: “In our environment the baton is a nice tool to have but it should not be used unless one is cornered. Our people must still use verbal intervention. The baton also takes a lot of room and cannot be used in close quarters.”
In the same category along with batons on the police’s scale of force is pepper spray. This is not an option that the university has endorsed however. D’Angelo agrees. Among the problems with pepper spray is that some people do not actually react to it. “They may simply lick there lips and not be affected,” explained D’Angelo. More serious perhaps are those with heart problems or asthma who would have an adverse reaction. D’Angelo expanded upon this: “It blocks your breathing, you’re blinded…it could be quite unpleasant.” Along with the risk of classroom contamination these reasons were considered to be grounds for the dismissal for any suggestion of the use of pepper spray. Besides, D’Angelo believes that batons will allow police to “defend themselves quite adequately.”
Although the new measures being taken by the campus police may seem to indicate the reaction to a more dangerous environment, D’Angelo does not believe this is so. He says that the “physical contacts remain very low.” The special case of U of T in relation to some other universities, as D’Angelo sees it, is that it is an open campus within a city and therefore has many non-community members passing through and sometimes causing trouble.
D’Angelo praises the relationship between the police and U of T students, saying students are seldom the cause of problems on campus. D’Angelo reveals that “there have been some altercations with students but it’s been so rare that you have a better chance of winning the lottery.”
