Campus Violence: What You Can Do About It

Please click here for Trent University's Campus Violence and Harassment Policy.

"Click here for a free, short on-line course offered by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) that defines workplace violence, discusses risk factors and behaviours associated with workplace violence and provides information on legislation regarding workplace violence in Canada, and Ontario. Click on the green "view course" button on the top right to access the course."

Two instructional Campus Violence DVDs are available for you to borrow and view:

• Shots Fired on Campus: Guidance for Surviving an Active Shooter Situation.
• Flashpoint on Campus: Recognizing and Preventing Violence on Campus.

To borrow these DVDS or for more information contact the Risk Management Office in Blackburn Hall, Rm. 132 or call 705-748-1011 ext. 7372.

What is campus violence?
Taber, Alberta; Littleton, Colorado; Ecole Polytechnic; Concordia University, Dawson College and now Virginia Tech: all of these educational institutions have suffered campus violence in its rarest and most extreme form - homicide.  At Trent University we use the term "Campus Violence" to stress that violence on campus not only effects employees who work at Trent, it affects students and visitors as well.

There are also other forms of campus violence that are much more commonplace and are experienced here at Trent and at every other College and University in Canada. These include assault, sexual assault, verbal abuse, harassment, suicide, attempt to injure, threat of injury, intimidation and coercion. Basically, campus violence is any act that results in threatened or actual harm to people or property on campus. All such acts leave trauma and fear in their wake.

 

Risk Assessment:

What is the scope of the problem?

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OH&SA) as amended by Bill 168 in 2010, requires all employers to conduct a risk assessment of workplace violence and harassment as often as necessary. Trent compiles and assesses all incidents of campus violence or harassment reported to Campus Security, Human Resources, Student Affairs and Human Rights that fall under the definitions of the OH&SA and the Campus Violence and Harassment Policy. The result is an annual risk assessment of workplace violence and harassment which is produced at the beginning of the winter term, or more frequently if there is a significant change in incident frequency between reports. The annual risk assessments of campus violence and harassment may be found here.

Campus Security staistics starting in 2005 and including those involving threatening or violent behaviour can be found here.

A June 2009 UBC study reports that nearly one in five university students experienced violence in the last six months. Click here for more information.

February 2007 Statistics Canada reported nearly 1/5th of all incidents of violent victimization including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery, occurred in the victims workplace.

What are some of the reasons for the prevalence of workplace violence?
Some factors are societal or personal in nature such as the prevalence and glorification of violence in our society, drug or alcohol abuse, reaction to family stress, poverty, domestic violence or access to deadly weapons. It should be noted that access to firearms is much more strictly controlled in Canada.

Others are work or study related. They include:

• job insecurity brought on by restructuring and the stress of extra work and guilt for those whose jobs remain
• job stress or the stress of exams
• lack of clear policy, rules of conduct and awareness training concerning violence in the campus
• less than thorough hiring, training and supervision practices for employees
• ineffective or non-existent violence reporting procedures
• reluctance by managers to discipline employees or students in a timely manner when warranted
• failure to monitor dangerous employees/students after disciplinary action
• inadequate physical security
• an autocratic or abusive management style
• an atmosphere of indignity that tolerates bigotry, sexual harassment or general disrespect and intolerance of others
• serious unresolved issues
• past incidents of violence

Finally, some types of jobs are more at risk of violence than others, for a number of reasons. They include jobs that:

• have contact with the general public
• Exchange money, such as retail clerks who are at the highest risk of violence of all professions.
• The next most risky profession is police officer.
• Delivers passengers, goods or services
• Has a mobile campus such as a taxi, security vehicle, or parking enforcement vehicle
• Work with unstable or volatile persons in health care, social services or criminal justice settings
• Require employees to work alone or in small numbers
• Require employees to work late at night or in the early morning
• Require employees to work in high crime areas
• Involve guarding valuable property or possessions

Can campus violence be anticipated?

In almost all cases, incidents of campus violence are preceded by a number of warning signs. Some are very overt and clear, some are more subtle. They include:

• Direct or veiled threats of harm. One of the perpetrators in Littleton, Colorado had a personal web site that clearly stated his intention to kill people at his school and destroy the school.
• Intimidating, belligerent, harassing or other inappropriate and aggressive behaviour.
• Numerous conflicts with supervisors and other employees or students.
• Bringing and/or brandishing a weapon at work or school.
• Making inappropriate references to or a fascination with weapons.
• Statements indicating fascination with incidents of campus violence, approval of the use of violence to resolve a situation or identification with perpetrators of campus homicide. The Taber gunman was allegedly inspired by the two Littleton murderers.
• Statements indicating desperation to the point of suicide.
• Drug or alcohol abuse.
• Extreme changes in behaviour such as increased absenteeism, mood swings, deterioration of personal hygiene, deteriorating job performance.
• Increased numbers of complaints from coworkers, subordinates, or students.

These behaviours of concern are not certain predictors of violence, but each of these behaviours is a clear sign that something is wrong. None should be ignored. However, in the case of a visitor to campus, these signs may not be known to members of the university, such as in the case of the Dawson College shootings. 

Can campus violence be prevented?

The short answer is no; there is no foolproof way to completely prevent violence in the campus, or anywhere else. However, there are a number of preventative measures that can be taken to significantly reduce the risk of violence at Trent:

1. The Risk Management Department conducts an annual Campus Violence Risk Assessment which can be found here.  We would be happy to assist you in conducting a threat assessment for your work, study or living area. The assessment should take into account risk factors (as listed above), physical security measures in place, policies and procedures in the campus, especially dealing with hiring and managing employees and campus culture. It should identify security measures that can reduce risk.
2. Implement appropriate security measures identified in the Risk Assesment. These could include:
   • physical security measures (CCTV, alarms, electronic access systems,panic, alarms, improved lighting, emergency telephones, photo ID badges, public/private office areas, guards or natural barriers such as counters).  Please consult Campus Security if you wish to improve physical security in your workplace.
   • procedural or behavioural changes (pre-employment screenings, use of administrative and disciplinary sanctions when warranted, use of employee escorts, not propping doors open, ensuring someone is responsible every night to arm alarms, locking your room or office etc.)
   • employee/student training (awareness of policy, awareness of warning signs, awareness of risk factors and how to mitigate them and knowledge of how to react and what to do in a violent situation. It is also helpful to acquire stress management and conflict resolution skills to help you diffuse potentially violent situations.

What do I do if faced with a violent or a potentially violent situation?

If you notice a colleague, student or co-worker exhibiting some or all of the above behaviours, you have the following three options:

• note and remember,
• talk to the individual,
• report it to your instructor, don, supervisor or Campus Security

If violence is imminent or actually occurring call 911 immediately and then call Campus Security at 705-748-1333 (Peterborough) or 905-435-5111 (Oshawa).

If someone is angry or hostile, you should:

• stay calm and listen attentively
• maintain eye contact
• be courteous and patient
• try to keep the situation in your control

If someone is swearing, shouting and threatening, you should:

• discreetly signal a colleague that you need help
• do not make any calls yourself
• have someone call security

If someone is threatening you with a weapon, you should:

• stay calm, quietly signal for help
• maintain eye contact
• stall for time
• keep talking but follow instructions
• don't try to grab the weapon
• watch for a safe chance to escape

If you find yourself in an active shooter situation, you should:

• Maintain a survival mindset and take the following action to save your life:

• figure out what is going on and where the shooter is
• get out of the building if you can do so safely
• call out - Call 911 and Campus Security at 705-748-1333 (Peterborough) or 905-435-5111 (Oshawa) or via any emergency phone and provide the following information:
  • Your name
  • Type of incident and weapons involved
  • Location of the incident (be as specific as possible)
  • Number of suspects as well as a physical description
  • Your current location
  • do not hang up until police or security tells you to (unless it is no longer safe to stay on the phone)
• hide out - i.e. SHELTER IN PLACE; close doors and blinds, turn off lights and any communications equipment that might signal your presence. If you are not alone, quietly plan your strategy should the attacker enter your space.
• keep out - barricade the door to deter the attacker. Do not let anyone in unless advised that it is safe to do so by the Emergency Communication System or a uniformed police officer.
  spread out - if there are a number of you. This will make it harder for the attacker to select a target.
• take out - the attacker (s) if you outnumber them. Disarming and subduing them will increase your chances of survival. On average active shooter incidents last 19 minutes before the shooter kills himself or the Police arrive and subdue him. Having a survival strategy dramatically increases your odds of getting through those 19 minutes. Quickly and quietly plan your strategy and then act on it should the attacker enter your room.
  
• follow the instructions and answer the questions of law enforcement personnel.  Show them empty hands and do not run towards them.  They will keep moving past you to find the attacker. Police officers are trained to respond to a hostile intruder by entering the building immediately and proceeding to the area where the incident is unfolding.  They will move quickly and directly.  Early in the incident, they may not be able to rescue people because their main goal will be to neutralize the suspect. Please try to remain as calm as possible during any such incident and obey the officers’ directives so as not to interfere with police operations.  A rescue team is formed shortly after the first responding officers enter the building; they will be the officers who search for and help get everyone out of the building safely.

If you are a supervisor or department head and you are informed that someone is exhibiting some of the warning signs listed above:

• Contact Campus Security, preferably with the concerned individual and have Security take a statement of the specific concerns.  Note specific details of what happened answering the W5 and H questions (by whom, when, where, who else may have seen the incident, what is the ongoing relationship between the parties and their history of communications, who are the parties’ supervisors/dons).
• Determine if there is an immediate safety concern and whether the Police and/or Campus Security need to be involved at this point.
• If not, talk to the individual; try to find out what the problem is and how it can be resolved. Do not delay in addressing the issue; very often violence can be prevented if the underlying problem is dealt with expeditiously and not allowed to escalate.
• Take disciplinary action if the behaviour warrants it; make it very clear to the person that violent, threatening or intimidating behaviour of any sort will not be tolerated. Ensure the individual understands the parameters of acceptable behaviour and the sanctions for breaching those parameters.
• Refer the individual to the Employee Assistance Program (if an employee) or Student Health and Counselling (if a student).
• Consider moving the individual to another worksite or offering paid leave as a temporary solution while the problem is being sorted out.
• If the individual has threatened violence to someone, others are in fear of their safety, or there is reason to believe that the individual may become physically violent, Campus Security will advise the Director of Risk Management who will convene a university intervention group to determine a plan of action in accordance with the Campus Violence and Harassment Policy and Procedure. 

The most effective way of protecting yourself from campus violence is to recognize the warning signs and report every incident, no matter how minor, so that immediate action can be taken to address the situation. Dismissing incidents as bravado or eccentricities may cost lives.

Campus Security will listen to your concerns and will take appropriate action.

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