{"id":51001,"date":"2018-10-19T17:07:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T21:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=51001"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:58:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:58:59","slug":"special-constables-celebrate-25-years-serving-carleton","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/special-constables-celebrate-25-years-serving-carleton\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Constables Celebrate 25 Years Serving Carleton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Special Constables Celebrate 25 Years Serving Carleton\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

For 25 years, special constables have watched over the Carleton University community. They started small and grew over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud that we have grown with the campus and its needs,\u201d says Brian Billings, director of the long-time Department of University Safety<\/a> (DUS), which is changing its name to Campus Safety Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize our shared responsibility to maintain order while affording dignity and respect to every individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Brian
Brian Billings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The special constables marked the quarter-century milestone on Thursday Oct. 18 with a celebration that recognized the memorandum of understanding DUS signed with the Ottawa Police Service to establish a service on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was on Oct. 4 1993 that Carleton\u2019s first special constables were granted peace officer powers, allowing them to make arrests and conduct certain investigations. They would work with Ottawa police while offering their law enforcement service to the Carleton community.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Various<\/figure>\n\n\n

Focusing on the Service\u2019s History –  And Its Future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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As emcee of the event, Billings welcomed a contingent of retired staff, current constables, and administrators. Past DUS directors Allan Burns and Len Boudreault were on hand, as were Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau and Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walls were lined with badges, patches and uniforms, many on display thanks to the family of Alan Parker, an original Carleton special constable who passed away in 2015. Old friends and new colleagues mingled during the event focused on the service\u2019s history and its future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way from our small beginnings, with four special constables being sworn in, to today,\u201d said Billings. \u201cTwenty-one special constables, five campus safety officers, four dispatchers, and 40 student safety patrollers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Suzanne
Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (Students and Enrolment) and Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The glue of the organization\u2019s units \u2014 technical services, parking services, emergency management and the Carleton University Emergency Response Team (CUSERT)<\/a> \u2014 is a dedicated administrative team, said Billings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know first-hand what a role special constables play on campus, especially when it comes to our young students,\u201d said Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (Students and Enrolment). \u201cThey\u2019re not only there in terms of enforcement, but in terms of caring for our students and their well-being as they thrive in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bordeleau congratulated the service on their 25 years and highlighted a strong relationship between the OPS and Carleton special constables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpecial constables are an invaluable service, not only to campus life, but to our city as a whole,\u201d he said. \u201cBy responding to calls for service on campus, we know that Ottawa Police Service members know that the matter is being dealt with very appropriately and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n

Special Constables Honoured for Commitment to the Community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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In recognition of his career in the department, Bordeleau presented a long service certificate to Special Constable Michael Warner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApparently everybody on campus knows Mike,\u201d said Bordeleau. \u201cThey know about his commitment to serving the university community, whether its faculty, staff or students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warner knew at an early age that he wanted to be in this line of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know when you sort of sit down to think about what you want to do in life?\u201d he said. \u201cI like helping people, and I wanted to have a job where I feel satisfied in doing the best I can in helping and assisting people in their situations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warner joined campus security on May 5, 1982, when there were half as many buildings as today. The security service used radios to monitor campus and typewriters to file reports. Warner was one of the first special constables sworn in by OPS in 1993 after he trained at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ont.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour approach, professionalism, compassion and empathy that you\u2019ve shown to students and faculty has made a very big difference,\u201d Bordeleau said as he awarded Warner the certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Savenkoff, from the Department of University Advancement, announced that a Campus Safety Services Scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded annually to an outstanding student studying for a BA in criminology or criminal justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a number of students who are keenly interested in law enforcement and this is a great way to recognize their skills and talents,\u201d said Evelyn Maeder, director of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 25 years, special constables have watched over the Carleton University community. They started small and grew over the years. \u201cWe\u2019re proud that we have grown with the campus and its needs,\u201d says Brian Billings, director of the long-time Department of University Safety (DUS), which is changing its name to Campus Safety Services. \u201cWe recognize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":51004,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-51001","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97793,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51001\/revisions\/97793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=51001"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=51001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}