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PCSOs on the beat

 

Police community support officers have begun to patrol Oxford University in an attempt to crack down on rowdy student behaviour.

Four new PCSOs spent their first day on the beat yesterday; they can enter colleges if they are invited to do so.

PC Martin Wizard stated that this was a Thames Valley initiative. He
said, "We are working closely with the university security. We will be
predominantly patrolling the centre of Oxford but will also be
patrolling the university parks."

"The point is to provide a visible police presence to reassure both residents and students."

Wizard said that students were generally well behaved but that around exams they tended to be a bit "excessive".

He continued, "Students can be a bit high-spirited at this time of year
and so the point of the PCSOs is to calm them down and prevent anything
dangerous from happening."

Chairman of the Domestic Bursars’ Committee, Elizabeth Crawford, said:
‘Any initiative that aims to improve the safety of students and staff
and supports security, in both the Colleges and the University, is
wholly welcome.’

Oxford University Spokesperson Maria Coyle was keen to stress that
PCSOs will not enter colleges unless given permission to do so as the
colleges will remain private property.

If the PCSOs are invited in by the colleges then they can issue fines or even arrest students for bad behaviour.

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