Warwick found to deploy non-uniformed security guards

A video published by Warwick For Free Education (WFFE) has revealed that the university deploys plain clothes security guards on campus.

The video was posted on Facebook last month and shows a man who claims to be a member of the security team at Warwick, in plain clothes, being questioned by two members of WFFE.

The incident occurred on the day of the University’s Summit on Protest, 12 March, in which 200 members of students and staff gathered to hear a discussion between the University management, the SU, the police and members from WFFE in response to the latter’s protests, which resulted in violence, in December last year.

MORE: Summit on Protest

In the video, two students approach the security guard, asking why he is in plain clothes, and how many others like him are on campus at the time. The security guard responds by referring the students to his managers, who he claims can answer their questions.

When asked whether the University’s employment of plain clothes guards is temporary, just for the day of the Summit, or for this year, the man replies that he has been doing plain clothes work “for a while”, and that “a lot of members of staff do it.” He also believes that the university have employed plain clothes workers in the past.

When asked for a comment on their video, WFFE expressed concern. Hope Worsdale, a second-year Maths student and member of WFFE, remarked: “This follows a worrying trend of universities all over the country employing underhand methods in order to secretly monitor students and crack down on protest.

“We are concerned that, as far as we’re aware, students were never consulted about this decision or explicitly told that plain clothes security were being used.”

She added: “This demonstrates the university’s lack of regard for student opinion on these matters and also the lack of transparency.”

When asked by the Boar about the University’s employment of plain clothes security guards, Warwick’s director of Press and Policy, Peter Dunn, said: “There is nothing new or unusual in this. For as long as I have been here (25 years) our security staff have been deployed both in and out of uniform for a range of activities designed to protect students and staff against crime.

“This officer was taking part in a vehicle related anti -theft activity that is still ongoing. The video shows that this member of staff was happy to confirm his role as a member of the security team.”

Indeed, some students do not believe the presence of plain clothes security guards on campus to be a problem. Harry Cloke, a third-year History student, disagrees with some peoples’ rhetoric that “Warwick has its own secret police”, by commenting; “To my knowledge, there is no evidence that they [security guards] are trying to snoop on every student or ‘oppress’ us.

“Plain clothes officers seem like a common sense move to effectively keep an eye out for people who are up to no good. I think we need to start working with our security, and compromise on areas we disagree on, rather than automatically acting so antagonistically.”

The Boar also contacted three other universities, Exeter, Oxford and Leicester, to ask whether they employ plain clothes security guards, and their views on the issue.

Both the University of Oxford and Leicester University said that they do not employ such staff. The University of Exeter said they did.

Exeter’s Records Manager, Caroline Dominey, said: “This may include asking staff to wear plain clothes from time to time to meet a special need, but not on a routine basis.

“We have a Head of Security and a Security Operations Manager who do not normally wear uniform.

“The use of staff in plain clothes may be agreed, dependent on the circumstances and the nature of the issues that the team have to deal with.”