CREDIT: STEPHANIE LAI
Special Constable Brent Arseneault crouches proudly next to a campus Security Services vehicle. Arseneault is a member of the team that works to keep Fanshawe students safe.

It's Halloween, and the spooks are out in full force on campus.

It's my glimpse into the night of an emergency responder at Fanshawe.

My partner for the evening, Special Constable Brent Arseneault, cuts an impressive figure. He stands at 6 ft. 4 in., and when I ask his weight, he jokingly replies, “250 plus HST.”

There are two sides to Special Constable Brent Arseneault. Brent is the friendly guy you see chatting and joking with people around Fanshawe. Spec. Const. Arseneault is a no-nonsense officer of the law who does not fuck around. He can turn on a dime, and reading a situation to determine which role he must play is an important part of being a good officer.

I show up for my ridealong around 10 p.m., just as Brent finishes some paperwork. Campus Security Services sees an average of about 10 calls a night, but a busy pub night can result in 30 or more calls. We're getting ready to go out to patrol when Security receives a call for a fight in progress in residence.

We dash to the car and peel out of the parking spot, lights flashing and sirens wailing. We fishtail on the road, slick with wet leaves. Despite being in a hurry, Brent brakes for all stop signs, later telling me they are “not stoptional.”

As Brent and I arrive on the scene, we hear another special constable tell someone not to touch him again. Brent, who moments earlier had been joking around with me, storms up to the individual and gruffly intercedes. Spec. Const. Arseneault has arrived.

Brent tells me the key to diffusing these kinds of situations is to separate everyone involved, calm them down, and establish compliance. He's seen minor events escalate for no reason at all, and “swift action deters a lot of it.”

In serious incidents, the responding officer will make an incident report, which will go in a student's file. The student may receive a sanction by the Student Code of Conduct co-ordinator. Students can also be charged criminally or provincially by the special constables. Provincial Offence Notices are most often handed out for breaches of the Trespass to Property Act or the Liquor Licence Act, which both result in tickets.

Brent likes to quote Dr. Phil: “You choose the behaviour, you choose the consequence.”

Brent didn't always know that he wanted to be a special constable. At 15, he was working at a grocery store as a service clerk, bagging groceries. “I said I was gonna do it for six months and quit. I ended up being there for 10 years.” He moved all the way up to front end manager.

One day, the store's loss prevention officer asked for Brent's assistance as she arrested someone for theft. Shortly after, Brent was hired part-time by the investigations company as he was studying Law and Security at Fanshawe.

In the years since, he's worked in the emergency room of St. Joseph's Health Care, Regional Mental Health Care London and Parkwood Hospital. He has also completed training in emergency management, fire inspection and disaster recovery. “I'm kind of a good balance; when I look at things, I'm not just looking at them from a legal perspective.”

Next, we head to patrol Kestral Court. Cruising through the parking lot, we are stopped by a Resident Advisor, who tells us about an underage student who is inebriated and having trouble breathing.

When we get to the student's room, Brent must ascertain whether the student has consumed anything besides alcohol. “There's a concern about a student who drinks socially or because they're dealing with something.” After asking her multiple times in a firm but caring way if she wants to die, Brent determines that she is not suicidal, but she is under a lot of pressure from school.

Two students on the Student Emergency Response Team show up to take the student's vitals, and it's time for us to go.

While no two calls are ever exactly the same, there is a pattern every semester. In September, Security receives more calls about alcohol management as students are out on their own for their first time, testing their limits. October is midterm month, which is when students are starting to fail classes, and romantic relationships may be starting to fall apart — a time of crisis, according to Brent. The closer it gets to Christmas, the more mental health issues and stress-related incidents are called in. The cycle repeats in January with a fresh intake of students.

This year has seen an unusually high number of mental health-related calls. While Brent isn't sure why that is, he thinks that it might be because Security Services is doing a better job of advertising their services. “More people know Campus Security Service is here, and we're here to help, and so they access those services more, based on our proactive approach.”

After a brief stop at the Halloween Pub in Forwell Hall, it's time to head back to the office to fill out some paperwork.

A short time later, we get a call for someone having cardiac problems at the bus stop. It's cold and raining, but the woman is sitting on the wet sidewalk, looking distressed. We show up with two students from the SERT team, who are very gentle and caring with her, helping her out of the rain and into one of the bus shelters as we wait for the ambulance to arrive.

The Campus Security Services team is made up of different parts working together: special constables like Brent are sworn peace officers designated with all policing authority on college property; blue-shirted contract security from Stinson provide additional services; Student Auxiliary volunteers assist the constables and contract security; and the Student Emergency Response Team deals with medical emergencies.

Resident Advisors are also part of the team working to help keep Fanshawe students safe.

“We are here to ensure that you have a safe learning environment. We make sure we do whatever we can to ensure that you graduate,” Brent says.

“We have a great team, no doubt about it. Every role is vital, and every role is necessary. We can't function as a team unless everyone participates.”

Next, it's back to the office to finish the paperwork from the fight in residence. “A good amount of the job is paperwork,” Brent tells me. A security officer can spend three hours completing paperwork for a five-minute incident.

Brent's favourite part of the job is seeing the impact he makes on people's lives. He recalled his favourite case from a few years ago, when he dealt with a young man who was breaking the law on campus, entirely due to his mental health issues. Brent charged him criminally to ensure the issue would get forced to mental health court. “I'm charging you because I care,” he remembers telling the student.

A month later, Brent caught up with the student in a coffee shop. He had pled guilty to the charges and was receiving help as an outpatient in a psychiatric facility. His life had completely turned around. The student told him, “God bless you for your service and what you do, because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be successful. You helped me significantly.”

“Those are the reasons I come to work,” Brent says. “It's the ability to help people; it's the ability to make a difference.”

“I want to be approachable. I want people to be able to come to chat, to just say hi. I want them to understand that we're here when they need us. It's not all about giving tickets or going to court, it's about doing the right thing,” he said.

Brent lives by a personal philosophy that “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” To him, this means being the best he can be.

“If I have something I can do to help somebody, or if I give them something that's going to better their experience here, then I'll do whatever I can to make sure [that happens] ... I do this job because I care, first and foremost.”

For emergencies on campus, call ext. 4242 or 519-452-4242. For additional information on Campus Security Services, go to www.fanshawec.ca/security.