Carleton’s Campus Safety recorded an over 40 per cent increase in incident reports during fall orientation this year compared to last year.
Jeff Condie, acting sergeant and community liaison officer for Campus Safety, said in an email there were a total of 174 reports filed by the end of frosh week on Sept.10, a figure exceeding last year’s total of 123.
Although alcohol has been banned during frosh week at Carleton since 2005, Liquor License Act reports accounted for a total of 42 out of the 174 incidents during frosh, Condie said.
“Alcohol related calls are always up this time of year,” he said.
Due to the number of events happening on campus during Frosh, it was not uncommon for officers to continue into over-time to meet the safety demands of the large events organized by the university, Condie said.
But this year was different from past years, as only two Ottawa Police officers were stationed in front of the beer garden at the Ravens’ opening football game. There were “no major issues reported,” according to Condie.
Maia Vautour, a first-year communications and media studies student, said she felt safe on campus during frosh week due to the presence of Campus Safety.
“I felt really safe because we had a lot of [frosh] facilitators and campus security everywhere . . . and when I left frosh someone also followed me to the bus stop,” Vautour said.
Aside from alcohol-related calls, a number of fire alarms went off during Frosh Week. A fire alarm went off in the University Centre on Sept. 6, and another in Tory Building on Sept. 7.
Condie said fire alarms going off during frosh are not uncommon, and added that when alarms go off, the safety of students and staff is their priority and Ottawa Fire Service attends all alarms.
“Sometimes alarms are set off unintentionally whether it be popcorn being left in a microwave for too long, or someone accidentally bumping into a pull station,” he said.
Condie said Campus Safety is always trying to raise awareness about security on campus, and the measures put in place on-campus are beneficial.
“Raising awareness for people’s safety is a major part of our jobs at [Campus Safety],” he said. “Our officers are always educating students while out on patrol.”
