Statement from SFU Safety and Risk Services

We are aware that a recent incident on the evening of December 11, 2020 on Burnaby campus is being shared on social media. We recognize that comments and the videos posted may cause distress to SFU community members, particularly for Black & Indigenous members. Please be reminded that 24/7 culturally safe mental health supports for students are available through mySSP. For more information about student mental health supports at SFU please go to - https://www.sfu.ca/students/health.html. Faculty and staff have access to our Employee and Family Assistance Program and can contact Homewood Health at 1-800-663-1142.

For privacy reasons, we’re not able to discuss details of individual incidents, including this one.

The role of Campus Public Safety is to provide public safety and protection services to the SFU community. With the current pandemic, we also have additional safety requirements in place, these include reducing access to our three campuses to only current students, faculty and staff, as well as the requirement to wear masks in public areas and physical distance from others.

When responding to a call from community members, Campus Public Safety (CPS) officers always take a peaceful approach to resolve situations. All CPS members have mental health first aid, crisis response and debriefing, verbal de-escalation and conflict resolution training, in addition to equity, diversity and inclusion education. Police are only called when the situation has escalated outside of the role and capacity of Campus Public Safety officers.

Our number one priority is always the safety of our SFU community.

Mark Lalonde, Chief Safety Officer