“From our standpoint, the fall preview day went off really well,” said Western’s Campus Community Police Service director Elgin Austen.
“We had in excess of 5,000 people on campus, and there were no problems because of the planning that went behind it,” he added.
Although main campus has been relatively quiet, Austen said false fire alarms in residences have recently caused problems at Huron University College.
“The residences have had to be evacuated a few times. There is currently a $500 reward being offered for any students who come forward with the name of the person who has been pulling them,” Austen said.
Although some students believe pulling fire alarms is nothing more than a silly prank, Austen warned about the dangers.
“People can become complacent after awhile. When a real fire alarm comes along, people may think it is a joke. When you pull fire alarms, you are putting other people in danger. The persons located pulling these pranks will be facing criminal charges,” he said.
Punishments for unnecessarily pulling fire alarms range from a fine to a short jail term, Austen added.
With the first semester approaching its conclusion, Austen believes people have been well-behaved up to this point in the school year.
“[Compared to past years], I would say this year has been average for crime. Our greatest concern is currently to get the thefts of laptops under control,” he said.
Currently, the CCPS is working alongside the London Police Service to initiate a few measures to deal with this problem, he added.
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