The University of Windsor is equipping and training campus police with pepper spray, according to CBC Windsor.
Several other universities, including the University of Guelph, Brock University, and McMaster University currently allow campus security to use pepper spray, according to a report from the Ontario Association of College and University Security Administrators.
Currently, Carleton University also equips its campus security with pepper spray. There is significant potential for campus security to abuse pepper spray use when de-escalating situations. In 2011, campus police at the University of California infamously hosed down peaceful protesters with pepper spray when they refused to move.
The situation could have been resolved in a less painful manner. But, because campus security had access to pepper spray, they chose to use it.
In rare situations when a campus experiences someone who is exceptionally dangerous, the university should contact the local police department to contain the situation. However, pepper spray should not be readily available for everyday security incidents on campus, as it may end up taking precedence over more peaceful descalation methods.
Equipping campus police with pepper spray has the potential to give some officers an excuse to use the weapon, even in situations where the subject is not considered dangerous or violent. This means students might feel uncomfortable with campus officers having pepper spray, rather than protected, since there is greater potential for a pepper spray incident to occur.
