New beginnings are in store for Mike Trevis, as well as for EC, as Trevis mans the helm at the El Camino Police Department as the new chief of police.
Trevis, who has been an officer for 34 years, started off his career as a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) campus police officer and transferred to the Maywood Police Department.
After four years, he then transferred to the city of Bell and went through the ranks until he became police chief from 1993-2002.
Trevis later transferred to the Pasadena Unified School District and then back to Maywood before coming to EC.
As he has just recently begun his term as police chief, he is currently looking to communicate with the campus community.
“As for me, right now I want to get acquainted with those on campus and be familiar with everyone,” Trevis said.
Although the recent sexual assault on campus came as a surprise, Trevis and EC police are planning to work more closely with students as a preventative measure.
“I was very disturbed that such a terrible thing happened, but I will try my best to make sure it won’t happen again,” Trevis said. “It’s difficult to have a police officer on every corner, but I’d like to have the officers engage and be visible so the students can feel comfortable going to them if they need help.”
New technology is also being implemented, which includes new security cameras and better communication systems to respond to an emergency more quickly and to be able to communicate with other police stations outside campus in case assistance is needed.
“So far so good,” Trevis said. “We are improving technology and making sure the blue emergency polls are in working order and we hope to have more officers patrolling the campus for additional security.”
While mass emergency alerts, which can be sent to all students’ cell phones, and added technology are being developed, Trevis feels communication with staff and students is key to safety.
“I want to listen to the students and staff so I can know what they’d like to see. We’re here to protect people so coming to school will be a wonderful experience,” he said. “That can become challenging if there are feelings of fear, so we want to make the staff and students feel safe.”
As police chief, Trevis feels his job is to be used as support to those on campus.
“The certified and instructional staff are here to make students succeed, and [the police] are here to provide a safety mechanism to promote that success and so students can feel they can report a problem if they are concerned,” he said.
So as change occurs throughout campus, Trevis is looking forward to it and is also happy about his new position as police chief.
“I’m really excited about this job,” he said. “I can’t wait to be able to work with everyone.”
