Folio Home > Oct 22, 2010 > Campus Security gets a new name

On Nov. 1, campus peace officers will begin reporting to University of Alberta Protective Services.

“[Campus Security Services] is kind of a name from the past that is no longer applicable,” said Bill Mowbray, director of University of Alberta Protective Services. “It ties us to a security organization, when that is not what we are anymore. We are more about crime prevention and being proactive than the old name suggests.”

Mowbray says that previously security was the extent of a CSS member’s duties, so the name fit; however, that changed when CSS became a special-constable organization in 1993. “That evolved further when we became a peace-officer organization in 2007,” said Mowbray.

Today, UAPS, one of six operational units within Risk Management Services, provides a number of services to the U of A including information and advice on safety, security and crime prevention, emergency response, complaint investigation, accident investigation, lost-and-found services, general patrol, alarm response, special duty services, traffic safety enforcement and public education services.

Mowbray says the name also reflects better the hard work and skills acquired to become a peace officer, the majority of whom are U of A graduates.

“As a peace-officer organization, its members have a widening range of responsibilities to help protect the university and its burgeoning and diverse learning community,” said Mowbray. “Working closely with city law enforcement and other emergency responders, and employing increasingly sophisticated techniques, the organization’s officers are equipped to respond to crime of all sorts.”