Concordia campus security under growing scrutiny

Heightened security measures and allegations of targeted surveillance raise questions about students rights and safety

NewsSafa Hachi — Published November 5, 2024 6 minutes

Increased demonstrations

In early 2024, activist groups like Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) spearheaded demonstrations demanding that Concordia divest from corporations with ties to Israel. 

Members of SPHR and other Palestinian solidarity movements have been vocal in urging Concordia to sever ties with companies linked with the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Large demonstrations showcased students’ commitment to these causes, and highlighted the CSPS’s intensifying security measures, according to some SPHR members. 

Groups like SPHR are not the only ones who have voiced their concerns. Individual students have also felt targeted by security. A former student union executive, who wished to be granted anonymity due to fear of academic repercussions, provided a first-hand account of feeling closely monitored by campus security, particularly during protests.

“You can see the shift,” they said, “security has become more aggressive with students connected to pro-Palestinian activism.”

The ex-student union executive shared that they and others have been followed by security on multiple occasions, resulting in a hostile atmosphere. 

Following their own negative experiences with CSPS, they began gathering testimonies and created a self-made incident report. The report details experiences where students felt targeted or observed by campus security and police. 

Accounts include alleged instances of being followed, restricted from movement or monitored during peaceful activities. 

One student reported: “They told me to remove [my] mask and followed me into [the] washroom, two or three of them interacted with me directly.” 

Testimonies also recount alleged physical encounters during protests. In one instance, a non-Concordia student supporting a walkout for Palestine described being physically detained by security without warning: “Four agents restrained my arms and pressed me against a vending machine until police arrived.” 

Another student described how handing out flyers for an upcoming rally allegedly escalated when security intervened: “Four security guards demanded our IDs, accusing us of not being students and video recording us. They stopped only when we began recording them.”

Concordia University spokesperson Fiona Downey told The Link that she encourages students who feel targeted by security to file a complaint with the Office of Rights and Responsibilities. 

Increase in security 

Since the start of the fall semester, students have told The Link they have noticed an increase in CSPS officers on campus. 

According to Downey, the university has indeed increased the number of CSPS officers on campus since the start of the semester. President Graham Carr also confirmed this in a statement made in anticipation of the anniversary of the start of the Gaza genocide on Oct. 7, affirming the university’s right to call police onto campus if necessary to maintain safety. 

“The increase in how many people surveil the crowd, both cops and security, creates a police state for the students,” said a member of SPHR who was granted anonymity for safety reasons.

“It becomes very controlled—you feel surveilled; they know where you are going, where you are coming from, I think it is a breach of privacy,” they added. “It is harassment; you are being harassed by your own university.”

This increase in complaints directed at CSPS comes despite the university’s recent efforts to foster a more inclusive atmosphere. In early 2024, Concordia renamed its security services as part of a larger push to build positive relationships between security officers and students. 

The former student union executive questioned why the university hasn’t openly shared its security budget or the role of different security agents on campus if they truly wish to improve their relationship with students.

According to Downey, trained agents wear a black protective vest. Officers who wear the bright yellow vests do so either for visibility, or because they are non-trained agents who are on a special assignment or in training.

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) has taken an assertive stance against the university, publicly accusing it of police brutality and racial discrimination during a recent press conference on Nov. 1. 

In a press release published on the CSU’s Instagram, the union demanded the immediate removal of police off campus and that CSPS officers stop following students, conducting citizen arrests and coordinating with the SPVM during demonstrations. 

“The university may think this level of security will deter us, but all it’s doing is mobilizing more students,” the SPHR member said, adding that the visibility of student activism has only strengthened solidarity within the campus community. 

According to the SPHR member, this is reflective of an environment where cultural expression is perceived as a threat rather than a right, contributing to what they called a “police state” atmosphere.

According to Downey, students are only followed “when the behaviour observed [by CSPS officers] violates the Code of Rights and Responsibilities.”

However, many student accounts contradict this statement. Ex-SPHR member Zeyad Abisaab, who left the organization in May, has allegedly been followed by security, even on days when he wasn’t participating in any political activities. He also alleged that his wearing a keffiyeh—a scarf that has become synonymous with Palestinian resistance—around campus is one of the reasons for CSPS’s profiling. 

To Abisaab, this points to the broader implications of these practices.“The [keffiyeh] has become a political symbol,” Abisaab said. “If you look like you would be associated with a certain group, you are followed and targeted.” 

He further explained that he believes these tactics are designed to suppress activism.

“It’s a long-standing repression strategy to pinpoint and make examples out of individuals to deter the larger group from uniting and rising,” Abisaab said. “The university deflects attention from broader issues by focusing on specific students.”

Concordia’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities outlines behaviours like threatening conduct or unauthorized access as reasons for intervention, with point 145 of the code mandating that anyone faced “with an urgent situation involving threatening or violent conduct” must immediately inform CSPS. 

According to Downey, CSPS agents always engage in de-escalation.

“We have always and will continue to favour applying the Code of Rights and Responsibilities whenever appropriate,” she said.

The Sept. 25 student walkout for Palestine saw another instance of CSPS being deployed in full force. Four CSPS agents grabbed and detained a 20-year-old Concordia student in Guy-Concordia metro station as he was moving toward street level for allegedly assaulting an officer. The student was forcibly pushed against an STM ticketing machine as agents twisted his arm to prevent his escape. 

Soon after, police officers pulled to the ground one 20-year-old and one 22-year-old from the crowd at the station. The police then proceeded to kneel on the two women's backs, while one woman yelled that she couldn’t breathe and both women saying that they weren’t resisting arrest.

“In recent rallies, security [has been] physically interacting—sometimes pushing and shoving students. They are becoming more aggressive and physical, and most times, it is not necessary,” the SPHR member said. “We’ve seen the videos, you can see that it is excessive.”

This wasn’t the last instance of student arrests on campus, as two students were arrested at a “Cops off Campus” demonstration on Oct. 31.

Effects on the student body

Even students who do not partake in activism like Marten Tawfik are feeling the effects of the heightened security measures on campus. Tawfik claimed that they are impacting his sense of safety as well as his ability to participate in academic life.

“I sometimes miss class because I just don’t feel safe,” Tawfik said. “Not every professor understands, but I do my best to avoid security, even though I know I am not doing anything wrong.” 

The impact of racial profiling adds another layer of distress for Tawfik.

“I wanted to wear a keffiyeh, but even without it, I already feel targeted,” Tawfik said. “I have had security not let me leave the hall building when there are protests despite not being a part of them. I just wanted to go home, and he would not let me." 

According to SPHR, despite CSPS’s increased security presence and measures, student activism at Concordia remains steadfast.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 5, published November 5, 2024.