SUNDAY 1 JULY, 2018 – UWI TODAY
7
When UWI Estate Constable Mikhail Nicholson
was dispatched one evening with two colleagues to
investigate a robbery on campus, little did he know that
he would soon find himself grappling with a cutlass-
armed bandit near a ditch in Curepe.
He recalls the incident last October involved two
students at the Faculty of Engineering Undercroft.
A man armed with a cutlass took their wallets and
cellphones around 6.15 pm. The students promptly
informed Campus Security.
“Two officers and I went to investigate. We saw a
short, stocky man matching the students’ description
by UWI Doubles…He was carrying a black and yellow
bookbag. We approached him, asking if we could
search his bookbag. He said no. Then he ran, jumping
into a big drain. His machete was stuck down in the
middle of the back of his pants – I didn’t know he had
it, actually.”
“I had a baton, the two other UWI Estate Police
officers had firearms. I jumped in behind him, and as
I was gaining on him, like he realized I was catching
up, and he started to pull out the cutlass. But I was
too close to him so I grabbed the hand reaching for
the cutlass. I ended up dropping him on the ground,
removing the cutlass, and holding him there until
another officer brought the handcuffs. We searched
his bag and found two wallets, two cellphones, and
some cash. One of the IDs in the wallet matched one
of the students who’d been robbed. So we carried him
to the UWI Estate Charge Room, fingerprinted him,
and then took him to the St Joseph Police Station.”
By the very next day, the robber was in the
Tunapuna Magistrate’s First Court, pleading guilty to
the robbery, and he is now serving a sentence of six
years in jail.
For his bravery and good work that night, as well
as his diligent and energetic work ethic throughout
the year, Nicholson recently received an award for
Outstanding Performance from the T&T National
Security Officers Foundation – an award usually given
only to State-employed officers. Nicholson received his
award onThursday, May 26 at City Hall, Port of Spain.
The award was launched in 2012 to honour
Protective Services staff who have served with
distinction as members of the Defence Force, police
officers including Municipal, Special Reserve and
Supplemental Police, prisons officers, fire officers,
immigration officers, Customs and Excise officers,
transport officers and traffic or game wardens.
“I am elated about the award. I was not expecting
it,” said Nicholson at an interview at the UWI Today
office.
A tall, athletic young man in his early 30s,
Nicholson first became part of The UWI family in
2005 as a watchman. In 2009, he became a precepted
constable with The UWI Estate Police. A precepted
officer has the powers of any T&T Police Officer within
the estate where he or she works– he can arrest felons,
and take them before the courts to be charged.
It’s clear that Nicholson takes pride in his work and
he says that working atThe UWI St Augustine campus
is generally safe, although crimes do happen. He says
robbers may often tend to target students or staff when
they are walking to and fromUWI, especially at night,
so students should take advantage of the 24-hour
shuttle service which the campus provides.
He enjoys working at a university because he says
life on campus is more like a little village or shared
community where security officers often get to know
the people who work there and have the chance to
practice some friendly community policing – doing
helpful things like assisting if someone has car trouble,
for instance.
Estate Sergeant Colin Sealy of the Campus Security
Services says campus security involves providing
services to students, staff and others, as well as doing
guard and patrol duties, responding to reports,
conducting investigations, and apprehending, charging
and helping with the prosecution of offenders. He says
the most common campus crime is larceny – theft of
property with no violence or threat to the owner. This
often involves items that students leave unguarded, like
their bookbags, cellphones or even laptops.
“Last year, while crime went up in the police
Northern Division, crime on campus went down
significantly due to strategies implemented by the
UWI Campus Security Services, including joint patrols
with the T&T Police Service, regular checking for
Award for BraveUWI Cop
B Y S H E R E E N A N N A L I
UWI Estate Constable Mikhail Nicholson with his award for
Outstanding Performance from the T&T National Security
Officers Foundation.
PHOTO: ANEEL KARIM
NEWS
UWI IDs and enforcing the UWI ‘No Thoroughfare
Policy’. Campus surveillance cameras help us solve
many crimes, too,” says Sealy.
Meanwhile Nicholson is philosophical about
his encounter with an armed robber. When he’s not
running down robbers or doing patrols, he enjoys
keeping fit by playing basketball, going to the gym,
and doing his ownworkout of push-ups, sit-ups, squats
and other exercises. He also enjoys road cycling. His
advice to young people considering a security career
is straightforward:
“Be sure it is something you want to do. You are
coming out to protect people when there may be no-
one else around to protect them. Your training would
give you a certain responsibility, because people would
be looking to you tomake a difference when a problem
arises.”
For more information
Campus Security UWI, St Augustine
Tel: 662-2002, ext. 82120
Website:
RhodaReddock
on UN Committee
Prof e s s or Rhoda
Reddock
was elected
on June 7 to theUnited
Nations Committee
on the Elimination
of Discr iminat ion
a g a i n s t Wo m e n
( C E D AW ) , t h e
first ever candidate
presented by the T&T
Government and the
recipient of 158 out of 185 votes – the highest
number of votes received among the candidates.
She will serve from 2019 to 2022.
CEDAW provides a universal standard
for women’s human rights. It addresses
discrimination in areas such as education,
employment, marriage and family relations,
health care, politics, finance and law. For
states party to the agreement, the Committee
monitors and assists them to improve their
human rights record and to provide women
and girls with equal access to opportunities for
growth and development.
UWI Professor Indar Ramnarine said the
sweeping of the field was no surprise to the
Faculty and Staff of the St Augustine Campus.
He said: “Professor Reddock’s pioneering
work and activism, her achievements as Head
of the Institute for Gender and Development
Studies, and later as Deputy Campus Principal
at St Augustine, are well documented and
internationally lauded. We wish her and her
colleagues on CEDAW every success in this
critical area of social transformation and
justice.”
Professor Rhoda Reddock
