While some university students will be looking forward to a year of drinking and loud music, others will be able to walk the beat as Metropolitan Police special constables in a bid to combat crime on London’s campuses.
The Met is calling for university staff and students to become part-time police officers as part of its CampusWatch programme. All the volunteers will have the same powers as full-time police officers and will dedicate eight hours of their time, every fortnight, to patrolling grounds. They will be trained by serving Met officers.
They will not patrol at their own university, but at another of their choice to avoid any conflict of interest.
The first two universities to pilot the scheme are Queen Mary University and City University. The Met is currently liaising with other universities to extend the programme.
