It has been 100 years since the first constable was hired at U of T and the campus police force celebrated in style Wednesday night with a ceremony at 89 Chestnut’s grand ballroom. The evening was also a special one for the 10 new inductees being sworn in this year, who were presented with their badges and certificates.
The proceedings included a procession of Special Constables set to bagpipe music and led by the 856 Pickering Kinsmen Air Cadet Squadron. Remarking on the glamorously chandeliered room in the recently acquired Chestnut building, Mary Thring of public relations said that “we are proud of it and that it was formal enough for the dignity of the occasion.”
CFTO news anchor Ken Shaw was an entertaining master of ceremonies for the evening. Remarks were made by Chancellor Vivienne Poy and M.P.P Monte Kwinter, among others. Praise for the university’s police was heard from all of the dignitaries who spoke before and after the presentation of certificates to the new constables. Dan Hutt, the manager of police services gave a brief and interesting history of U of T police. He referred to newspaper headlines throughout the decades that showed some of the issues that police have successfully dealt with on campus, like the long running feud between engineering and medical students that often erupted into snowball fights. More seriously the police were faced with their first homicide when an art student was murdered in 1948.
Over the years the some of the many things the police have been involved in are crowd control, parking enforcement and the protection of property. Through all of this they have gone through many changes, such as the fazing out of night watchmen at the end of the 1970s and serious budget cuts in the 1990s that saw a staff reduction from 8,000 to 6,500.
During the 1990s, modern campus policing as we know it was formed. That is when community policing was really developed. The RAD program was introduced, a pancake breakfast began to be held every October and there were bike spot-checks. A rollerblade unit was even part of the force for a short while.
In his speech, U of T President Robert Birgeneau thanked the police for “a hundred years of remarkable service,” and said that the university is “privileged to have a police force like ours.”
It seemed that all were pleased with the evening. Constable Sam D’Angelo later explained the significance of the double celebration. “We thought we would combine the graduation with the 100th anniversary to show the past and the future.” He shared his thoughts on the importance of community policing, saying that “we know how it enriches life…you learn how to deal with diversity in a non-confrontational way that doesn’t require a pistol or a baton, through special training our people learn that skill.”
D’Angelo said that U of T has been a leader in this style of community policing, and pointed to the University of Western Ontario as a school who has adapted the U of T model. “We problem solve and interact with the community, people are not afraid to call on us. We prefer that people refer to us by our first names.”
