More than 100 students gathered at the University of Otago
this afternoon, vigorously protesting against the actions of
Campus Watch officers.
The students marched through the campus to the office of
proctor Simon Thompson and demanded he come downstairs. When
he left through a back door, the protestors turned their
attention to a group of police officers who had been
organised for the event.
The group dispersed without incident after about an hour.
Abe Gray, president of the Otago branch of marijuana law
reform group Norml, this week said Campus Watch officers were
becoming the "Dunedin Gestapo".
"Campus Watch is not here to help students or to keep them
safe. They are here to intimidate them and force them to fall
in line or face punishment," Otago Norml said in an email to
its supporters yesterday.
Campus Watch is a 24-hour seven-day-a-week operation using up
to 50 officers. They have patrolled North Dunedin streets
since February last year and are credited with reducing
disorder.
However, Otago University Students Association president
Simon Wilson said since Campus Watch had taken over the
university's security services, it had stopped looking after
students and started trying to trip them up.
"They are there to keep students in line. The original
thinking behind Campus Watch was that they were a friendly
group, giving students advice. Now, they are much more of an
enforcement group."
There had been evidence of officers following students
because they thought they were suspicious, or being
overbearing in their dealing with students.
Mr Gray said Campus Watch officers had recently started
"targeting and persecuting" students who smoked cannabis.
He said a male student was arrested for possessing cannabis
on Monday after a Campus Watch officer alerted police. The
student was "illegally searched", Mr Gray said, and found to
have a pipe and cannabis in his pockets.
This followed another incident where a Campus Watch officer
allegedly "harassed" a student studying in the main library
because he had gone out to have a joint in his break.
"Campus Watch is not contributing positively to the
university environment and they need to be sent a very strong
message that these type of actions are unacceptable."
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