Security in Salford

As security becomes an increasingly important issue for the sector, we speak to Christine Rice of Salford University about how the CampusWatch scheme is making the campus safe.

According to College and University Business Officers’ (CUBO) recent report, safety
is an important issue to 94 per cent of students. It is an even greater concern for overseas students and an important issue for 97 per cent of female students. These results might not be surprising, but they confirm that universities must strive to find ways to make their campuses safe and secure to ensure student satisfaction.

Salford University is an inner-city campus in Manchester that has found that sharing responsibility for security is working wonders. While security was never too much of a problem at Salford, there was the worry that crime would spill from the city into the campus and this worry was impacting on the experience.
Rather than relying just on CCTV cameras in key locations, Salford University turned the staff and students into its eyes and ears as part of a CampusWatch scheme. Since last year the university has recruited nearly 100 staff and students and has seen a reduction in crime, both on campus and in the immediately surrounding area. We speak to Christine Rice who launched the scheme about how it works and the ongoing impact it’s having at Salford.

Q. What prompted you to start the CampusWatch scheme?
A. After discussions with students and staff, we believed everyone would benefit by working together for the security of the 22,000 staff and students in Salford.
While the campus does not have a real security problem, it is inner-city based and has all the usual problems of an inner city that might spill over onto the campus. By ensuring that many other people on the campus had “ownership” of the security and safety of the campus – as well as the security officers and local police – it ensures that over 100 extra pairs of eyes are looking out for everyone else.

Q. How do you recruit staff and students?
A. Everyone who wishes to enrol as a CampusWatch volunteer has to complete the enrolment form that is on the website www.campuswatch.salford.ac.uk. This ensures that their line manager (in the case of staff) is aware of their commitment as there is a little time involved in carrying out the work. Students are selected on the basis that all senior residents are requested, as part of their roles in accommodation, to become CampusWatch volunteers and we hold a special training for them at the beginning of the academic year.
Other students are invited to consider joining the team by the promotion of Campuswatch during freshers’ weeks and receive their training at the same time as staff – generally every couple of months on a specific afternoon training session.
Once trained, all staff and students are asked to keep their eyes and ears open and note anything unusual or suspicious, passing it on to the Campuswatch co-ordinator or the 24-hour security control room in cases of immediate urgency.
All Campuswatchers are advised never to interfere in an incident that is taking place, only to report it – full emergency, immediate information, or general information. They all have telephone numbers to ring depending on the scale and urgency of the matter, or send their information to the Campuswatch email.

Q. Has the scheme impacted on the levels of crime at Salford University?
A. Local police and members of the Police Partnership Board firmly believe that the reduction of personal crime on staff and students on campus is linked to the CampusWatch scheme being set up almost 12 months ago. It has also helped in reducing vehicle crime quite considerably, which had been concerning us prior to the launch of the scheme.

Q. How many volunteers do you have?
A. 95 at the moment. We are working up to the optimum number of volunteers, which would be 100.

Q. What are they trained in?
A. They are trained in counter-terrorism, crime reduction techniques, crime awareness, scenes-of-crime protection, drug awareness, observation – all these are on a very surface basis. The local crime-reduction officers, terrorism officers and police liaison officers ensure that they speak to staff and students at a level they understand, so that they have enough knowledge to assist in their volunteer role with confidence.

Q. Is terrorism high on the university security agenda?
A. It is high on the national police agenda as it is historically proved that universities are an area where such issues can develop, but Salford University just ensures it is well aware of the situation as explained to us by the local counter-terrorism unit.

Q. Is the training expensive/difficult for the university?
A. No, we have to allow staff and students time off to undertake the training but both Greater Manchester Police and British Transport Police have been exceedingly generous in supplying lecturers and police to carry out the training sessions. We supply our volunteers with a free lunch on these days but this is not expensive.

Q. Does this save you money in terms of security staff or equipment?
A. Not particularly. It is intended to enhance security, making it better – no saving of finance or time is expected.

Q. Salford has had a reputation for high crime levels, does the scheme reassure students about coming here?
A. Salford University does not have a high crime level – its crime figures can be viewed at the campuswatch site – we are one of very few universities that discloses completely what their figures are.
This shows that crime has been decreasing on campus for years. We would hope the website convinces anyone doubting this!

Q. What is the secret of establishing your scheme so successfully?
A. Ensuring that everyone works closely together and shares all their knowledge and information. Also it’s important to have an excellent relationship with the police forces and a good relationship between staff and students.

Q. When is your conference and what can delegates gain from attending?
A. The National Secutiry conference is on 25 March 2009 – it is a sharing of best practice that will enable other universities to see where they could benefit from some of the actions Salford University has taken. There are also some top-class speakers who will have great information to pass on, such as the chief constable of Merseyside, Bernard Hogan Howe.

Q. Are you involved with any organisations in this scheme?
A. British Transport Police and Greater Manchester Police forces as well as
Salford City Council are all involved in the scheme.
www.campuswatch.salford.ac.uk