The University of the West Indies (UWI) and Northern Caribbean University (NCU) have stepped up security measures on their Mona and Mandeville campuses respectively following last week's Sunday Observer report highlighting shortfalls in the security systems at the island's three major universities.

The third institution, the University of Technology (UTech), says it has called a special meeting for this week to discuss security measures on its campus in Papine, Kingston.

The entrance to the University of Technology.

From October 24 to 26, three Sunday Observer undercover reporters visited each campus and were able to breach security systems, getting on to halls of residence and even attending lectures.

Last week, Joseph Pereira, deputy principal of the UWI, told the Sunday Observer that they have since had a meeting with the security provider to request that the necessary security measures, which were already in place, be enforced.

Now, all students are required to produce an identification card (ID) to gain access to the halls. They will also be required to receive their visitors from the security area and escort them directly to the halls of residence.

"I appreciate your own experience because we have had a meeting with the security providers and they have recognised their shortcoming," said Pereira, referring to the Sunday Observer article.

"They have agreed to follow the procedures that had already been instituted," he said, even as he pointed out that if persons are not residents on hall they will have to log their information with the security guards before being allowed in.

"In most halls, there is a system where the security guards would first check with the students, but in some blocks there is not this communication link, and what we are trying to get students to do now is to come and receive their guests," he said.

As for students and staff being required to display their IDs at all times while on campus, Pereira said this does not do much because the badges are not large enough for the photograph to be clearly seen.
Also, as part of its security measures, cars are being randomly stopped and searched by the security guards at particular points of entry.

Three weeks ago, a man posing as a student, and his cronies, abducted UWI lecturer Dr Kingsley 'Ragashanti' Stewart from the campus at gunpoint as he walked towards his vehicle in the parking lot of the Social Sciences Faculty. He was later freed in the Lees Flat area of August Town.

With the large number of vehicles travelling through the four entry gates to the campus daily, Pereira said the university has to be careful to balance between reasonable traffic flow and security.

"We have turned back vehicles from time to time, especially what we call the unlicensed taxis, and sometimes persons who have breached the campus traffic regulations. But it is very difficult to check everyone coming in," he added.
On the matter of persons having easy access to lectures, Pereira explained that once the lecturer has no objections, attending a lecture is not a problem.

"This is at the discretion of the lecturer, so we do not intend to have any check of persons going into lectures," he said.
"Normally, when I go into a classroom and there are strange faces I proceed to lecture because I personally have no problem with anyone sitting in to listen to what I have to say, and that is true for many of the lecturers," he added.

He also explained that in the library the university has a fairly flexible policy whereby, although persons are required to have an ID, non-students are sometimes allowed access. "The guard should, however, receive either that person's ID or the authorising request letter allowing the visitor to use the library," he explained. None of these rules were observed when the Sunday Observer reporter visited the campus two weeks ago.
Added Pereira: "But our more important concern is about people exiting and whether or not they are taking out any library material without permission."

But even as Pereira admitted that the campus borders are porous and will allow for easy access, he pointed to statistics which he said indicate a very low level of criminal activity compared with that of off-campus locations.

"The incidents that we have had in recent times would have been very difficult to avoid and, in some cases, the security measures could not have dealt with them, because some of these persons were actually guests of students in hall," he said.
As for the kidnapping of Dr Stewart from the campus, Pereira noted that the lecturer himself indicated that it would have been difficult to spot what was going on.

Pereira also confirmed a report that a construction site on the campus has had to be manned by police after it was targeted by extortionists. However, he explained that security for the site was the responsibility of the contractor and not the university.
"It is true we heard reports of extortion being sought, and it is true the police were asked to assist in securing the site, but security arrangements are the responsibility of the contractor," he said.

He, however, denied reports that there are several crimes which go unreported on campus.
Reports, he said, are submitted each month from both the police and the security providers outlining the 'significant' events.

"We have, however, heard from time-to-time of cases of petty theft, where persons have lost their bags in the library and elsewhere and sometimes these cases are not reported to us," he said.

"We have tried to encourage reporting, because it not only helps us in trying to solve the particular crime but it also helps us in noting where the particular weaknesses lie and addressing that, so it is preventative as well as resolving particular activities," said Pereira.

NCU gets firm on IDs

Northern Caribbean University (NCU) has begun the enforcement of stringent identification requirements following last week's Sunday Observer report that security on the campus was lax.

Last week, president of the university, Herbert Thompson, told the Sunday Observer that a special staff meeting held Monday to discuss the issue yielded a new commitment to the school's ID policies, saying the staff has had to "take charge".
"Essentially, the meeting was to reiterate what has always been our policy," said Thompson. "We've always required students and workers to wear IDs."

Students and staff are now required to display their ID cards at all entry points to the campus as well as in classes, and temporary workers have to prominently display their colour-coded IDs at all times.

"It [the Sunday Observer report] raised a consciousness without dire consequences. That, to me, is good reporting," he said, adding that the abduction of Dr Stewart on the UWI Mona campus by people he thought were students, was evidence that security needs to be a priority.
Thompson said inconsistency was the origin of the laxness on his campus.

"We have a culture here at NCU where at the beginning of the semester everything is on the books, then after that we let up on certain things," he said.
Notwithstanding, Thompson said the onus was on lecturers to be familiar with the students in their classes by a certain point in the semester.

"If a person doesn't have an ID and is not on the class list... they're twice removed," Thompson said. "On a campus with 4,000 people it is difficult to figure out who belongs and who doesn't," he said. "I believe all of us need to be more vigilant and watch each other's backs."

UTech calls meeting

Supervisory and management personnel of the University of Technology (UTech) will be having a special meeting this week to discuss security measures on the campus.

"They (UTech management) read the article, and we promised to have some discussions during next week to see where we fell down and where we stood up," Hector Wheeler, UTech's corporate communications manager told the Sunday Observer last week.

At the same time, however, Wheeler maintained that any measures implemented would have to ensure that the campus does not become unwelcome for visitors and prospective students.

"We have to be careful that we do not drive people in a panic," he said. "People should be sensitised about how best we can help ourselves. [But] it is a public place and it should not be so policed that nobody could go there."
The cost of security, which has always been a concern for the administration Wheeler noted, would also be central in discussions on the matter.

"While we are doing this we have to look at the costs and see how realistic we can be in providing security for the school. Security is very expensive," he said.

Addressing the Sunday Observer report of the university's security measures, Wheeler said that it was the general belief that much emphasis was placed on sections of the campus considered small threats, such as lecture theatres and classrooms. Ensuring security in these areas, he said, was highly dependent on the assistance of students working in co-operation with campus security, rather than continued surveillance by security guards.

Regarding access to halls of residence, Wheeler said that the students should exercise greater awareness about who is allowed onto the halls.

"We could put in security guards and police in addition to the access codes, or we could have a system so that visitors know their [friend's] access codes," he said.

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