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Safer Than Your Neighborhood |
Lonnie Schwenk, Sierra College Chief of Police Services since 1990, was born for a career in law enforcement. His dad was an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, and Lonnie’s earliest ambition was to follow in his footsteps. While waiting to reach the qualifying age to become a police officer, he attended Sacramento City College majoring in Police Science. Fifteen years later, he came to Sierra College and earned an Associate of Science degree in computer science while working part time as a campus security officer. That led to full-time permanent employment opportunities at the college, and Lonnie never got around to leaving.
So today, after an intervening 40 units of police science, Lonnie and his staff of 20 are responsible for providing around-the-clock security at both the Rocklin and Nevada County campuses. From their cramped offices in a temporary building, Lonnie and his staff monitor more than 40 campus locations via closed circuit TV.
Every school day, about 17,000 people come to the Rocklin campus. As with many local police departments, traffic and parking are the main day to day functions. Following the recent completion of the stadium/parking lot expansion project, the total of 4300 parking spaces at the Rocklin campus is adequate to the need for the first time in many years, with every space being turned over about four times per day. Over 60% of the campus security budget is derived from parking fees, including issuing about 900 tickets per month for non-payment of the $1 per day on campus parking fee.
Statistically, Sierra is a very safe place to be. As Lonnie says, “You are safer here than in your own neighborhood or at your local grocery store.” There has never been a homicide on campus and assaults resulting in serious injury are rare, averaging about one in three years. Community colleges are significantly safer than high schools and residence universities. By far, the most common problems are petty theft, minor parking lot accidents, and parking violations.
As Lonnie points out, “nobody is forced to come here, and people normally come on their best behavior.” Besides that, most community college students are too busy with multiple part time jobs and class loads to have time for much else.
However, Lonnie, like every college security manager, worries about the possibility of a major episode of on-campus violence like the recent ones at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University. As Lonnie points out, the campus environment offers little defense against the appearance of what he refers to as a “shooter/intruder.”
According to Wikipedia, there have been 43 major episodes of on-campus shootings in the United States since the University of Texas tower massacre in 1966 until the most recent one at Northern Illinois, or an average of one per year. Of those, 14 have been at universities, 18 at high schools, and 11 at elementary or junior high schools. None have occurred at community colleges.
Nevertheless, Sierra has an Emergency Response Plan in place to cope with any eventuality. At present, the school depends on the Rocklin Police Department for any armed assistance, since only three of the college’s security staff are sworn officers, although this policy is currently under review.
Especially in light of the communications issues which accompanied the Virginia Tech episode, the college is evaluating how best to alert the on-campus population in the event of an emergency. As Lonnie observes, community colleges are at a significant disadvantage relative to K-12 schools in that there is no classroom intercom system. Various one-way broadcast techniques are being considered, but as always at community colleges, availability of budget is a significant issue.
Overall, Lonnie’s message to students is an optimistic one. He says, “Our campus is relatively a very safe place to be. Don’t let the high volume of coverage of very isolated events skew your decision about attending any college. Don’t let campus tragedies dissuade you from pursuing your education.”
Bill Martin is a Sierra College Trustee. He can be reached at
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Not only is this affecting the school budget, we have been lied to, cheated, and stolen from in regards to illegal immigration for so long many of us no longer believe a word they say.