Posted on Dec. 3: Students on Patrol makes community connection

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Students_on_Patrol.jpg” caption=”Students on Patrol”]When it comes to fighting crime in the community, students have an invested interest.

“McMaster is our home throughout the school year and we want to make this place safe for on-campus and off-campus students,” says Cathy Hui, co-ordinator of
McMaster's Student Walk Home Attendant Team (SWHAT).

So when the SWHAT team was approached by Hamilton Police constable Greg Doerr about joining forces, they were all for the idea.

“This was something we had already wanted to do,” the fourth-year kinesiology student says.

Students on Patrol is a new program where Hamilton police and McMaster Security provide SWHAT volunteers with training on how to make McMaster and its surrounding communities a healthier and safer place. Volunteers are educated on how to watch for suspicious activity and how to be aware of their surroundings. This fall, Hamilton Police and McMaster Security trained more than 150 SWHAT volunteers.

“We've always been out there, but now we're better trained,” says Susan Lehman, public relations co-ordinator for SWHAT. “It's important that the community realizes we're out there. We want to make people more aware of our presence in the community.”

Neville Boney, vice-president administration of McMaster Students Union, says this is one step towards McMaster strengthening its ties with the community. “These small steps are a good way to show that we do care about our neighbours in the community and we want to make sure our neighbourhood is clean and safe,” he says.

SWHAT volunteer teams of one male and one female are available to walk home any member of the McMaster community within a 20-minute radius of campus. SWHAT is available between 5:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. seven days a week throughout the school year, excluding student holidays, and when the University is closed. The office is located in the McMaster University Student Centre, Room 103. For a walk home call ext. 27500.

Photo caption: Pictured from left, McMaster Cathy O'Donnell, Security sergeant of crime prevention, Bill White, SWHAT volunteer and fourth-year civil engineering and society student, Candy Hui, SWHAT co-ordinator and fourth-year kinesiology student, and Hamilton Police constable Greg Doerr join forces to create Students on Patrol. Photo caption: Chantall Van Raay