A look into the cops off campus movement

Content warning: Mentions of police brutality.

In recent months, many post-secondary institutions have been reevaluating the use of campus-police. The demand from students, on-campus unions, and student groups at the University of Toronto for the removal of campus police has been an ongoing concern for years now. On December 16, 2020, three students from the University of Toronto Graduate Students Union were involved in an altercation with campus police.

A banner made by students in the union stating: “Cops Off Campus #Police-FreeSchools” would be used to promote their campaign in both online and offline methods, as they subsequently hung it from their student union building on Bancroft Avenue, leading to the occurrence with the police. Two minutes of the incident was recorded and posted to the UTGSU’s Facebook page, captioned “TBT to that time Campus Police intimidated us with three vehicles and five officers.” The video features three students, University Governance Commissioner of the Graduate Student Union, Lwanga Musisi; Executive Director, Andre Fast; and Executive-Member-at-Large, Ben Hjorth, conversing with two officers who accuse them of showing aggressive behaviour. The students state that, as students who not only pay tuition but also represent the student body, they should be able to display their banner on campus buildings.

The incident followed a post on the UTGSU’s Twitter account stating their solidarity with the #CopsOffCampus campaign. The tweet includes their statement supporting the removal of campus police in solidarity with their Black Students Matter campaign.

The #CopsOffCampus campaign has gained a large attraction from universities, mostly in North America, following the Black Lives Matter marches and protests against police brutality. Students and faculty from institutions such as Harvard and NYU have been vocal in their experiences of violence with campus-police and called for its abolition. With the UTGSU students actively working towards the same goal, they note that they want the University’s funding for police services to be redirected towards “meaningful community and campus care.” The Union’s tweet also includes an image of three students standing outside of the special constable service building on Sussex street, whilst holding the banner seen in the altercation.

On the same day, a video that the Union posted to their Facebook page included the same three students in the photograph to present their message on the campaign. In the video is Musisi, who begins by discussing the myth that having campus-police equals a safe space for students. He notes that this is a misconception, and that on-campus police have historically contributed to decreased safety on campus. One of the consecutive messages behind abolishing police on student campuses is their history and interactions with BIPOC students. When the President of the Scarborough Campus Student Union, Sarah Mohamed, addresses viewers in the video, she notes how the abolishing of campus police is an effort toward addressing anti-Blackness. Mohamed also states how the campaign will work toward the defunding of the Special Constable service and will oversee that its funds are redistributed toward safety alternatives, such as crisis workers. In both the video and the post, they reiterate that January 2021 will be the launch of the Cops Off Campus Campaign. Missing from the video, however, is a student representative from the Mississauga campus, where many students are vocal about past issues they have had with campus police. 

On October 2, 2019, UTM student Natalia Espinosa sought professional help from the Health and Counselling Centre, located in the Davis building’s basement. After speaking with a nurse, Espinosa was informed she would need to speak with campus police. This led to two male officers placing her under arrest and transporting her in handcuffs to Credit Valley Hospital. Espinosa’s story has been infamous among those at all three of UofT’s campuses. The police’s involvement in such a situation only demonstrates the demand for post-secondary schools to have a better method of responding to mental health crises. In relation to Mohamed’s statement of redistributing the police budget to crisis support workers, perhaps the funds could also go toward the much needed on-campus nurses, doctors, and therapists, for students.

Another campus-police incident occurred during the winter semester of 2008. Thirty-five UofT students protested a 20 percent fee increase; their sit-in outside of the President’s Office and rally outside ended in police brutality. At the time, students had attempted to give a letter to President David Naylor, including three justifiable demands. A video posted on YouTube of the incident shows officers forcefully grabbing and dragging students, resulting in students asking, “Who is here to protect us?” Over a decade later, the issues that campus police have been involved in only make the case for their abolition more favourable to students at all three campuses.

Despite the Union’s banner being a method of peaceful display to a collective message from the student body, we know from UofT’s history with campus police that this is another example of an unnecessary issue that students have dealt with in regard to civil protesting. Similar to their tweet, the UTGSU’s Facebook post promotes the continuation of the Union working towards eradicating the use of police on campus, stating “Stay tuned for more action as our Cops Off Campus campaign ramps up this term!” Hopefully, the Union will put out resources and petitions in order for students to continue peacefully voicing their opinion in relation to the campaign.

List of links to resources on anti-racism can be found here.