Common sense the key words
Police both on and off campus working hard to ensure the return to school is safe
Common sense can go a long way to ensure university and college students remain safe, said the manager of security services at UPEI.
Mark Pharand said the campus has a 24-hour dispatch and security policing on hand in case students are in need of assistance.
“Security services are here to ensure that everyone here is happy, healthy and terrific, which is three words I use. To ensure that, we collaborate with student services, the new student orientation group and other partners on campus,” he said, adding he will be providing information to the new students this week during student orientation.
“We want to be that face and show them that we are here to help them.”
Along with the 24/7 security services, there is also a Safe Walk program, which can be accessed by students and staff who might feel uncomfortable walking alone across campus at night. The campus also has five blue emergency polls with buttons that can be pressed in case students are in trouble.
In the two years Pharand has held his position, the calls to the polls all turned out to be false alarms.
“We always respond as a priority when that’s pushed.”
The best piece of advice Pharand has for students is simple. “I always talk about common sense,” he said.
“I ask our campus community to have common sense and maybe think about doing something before doing something. If it doesn’t feel right, maybe they should question it.”
Sgt. Chris Watts of Charlottetown Police Services echoed Pharand’s advice. “Exercise common sense and good decision-making and be responsible for your own actions and use care and caution at all times,” he said in a phone interview with The Guardian. “It boils down to common sense.” Watts said he would like to remind people that the legal drinking age is 19 years of age, and that excessive drinking may lead to negative consequences including assault, impaired driving charges and illness.
“Be cognisant of the alcohol and/or drug consumption,” he said. “The drinking and responsible behaviour is something you see fairly frequently among young party-goers and students at their first taste of independence, and you just have to be aware of the consequences.” The police department urges onlookers to speak up if they think something is wrong.
“If bystanders see anything at all of suspicious nature whatsoever that they have a negative feeling about or see something that looks like it could be a bad situation, don’t hesitate to call us, call 9-1-1, and we are very eager and we rapidly respond to calls of that nature.”