Despite a seemingly threatening situation, guns did not have to be drawn when EC police discovered a subject on campus with a pellet gun on Sept. 24, police said.
When questioned, the subject claimed he brought the gun because he was afraid of raccoons, but later said he brought it to show his friends.
In incidents such as these, however, EC police has a right to draw their weapon should they feel there was serious danger.
“An officer can draw a firearm if they feel they are protecting the lives of other people, including themselves, so in this case it would have been justified,” Mike Trevis, EC police chief, said. “We don’t like doing that, but if it’s to protect others, sometimes we have to.”
Issues such as these and the robbery which occurred last Wednesday near Subway in which a female student was approached and her cell phone was attempted to be taken, have prompted students and faculty to better protect themselves.
“I tell my students to keep the number for campus police in their cell phone under ‘A’ so it will be the first number they see,” Nancilyn Burruss, English professor whose student was able to contact campus police during the attempted robbery at Subway because of this tip, said.
Recently, a system has been implemented so campus police can send messages out should a serious incident such as last May’s assault or the recent attempted assault occur, but so far, it can only contact office phones.
“We are learning how to work the system, but it is running,” Trevis said. “So far, we have had meetings to install a mass-texting system to alert students as well.”
Even if there is still no mass-alert system, some feel the campus is safe regardless, even more so than a city street.
“I think the campus is safe. It’s much safer than a city street, but students still need to be aware and treat it as though it were a walk in the city,” Burruss said.
Another plan in the works with regard to protecting student safety is the concept of campus watch, which is modeled after neighborhood watch.
“We encourage everyone to participate,” Trevis said. “Basically, we all stay alert and look out for one another.”
Some students, however, disagree with the safety issue and feel there is no progress when it comes to their safety.
“I don’t think there is any change,” Lyn Sipin, communications major, said. “I don’t see a lot of police walking around or anything new.”
While some students still question their safety during the day, they also wonder what is being done about safety for those who attend night classes.
“I don’t think anything is really being done. I think (police) should be around more and observing more during the day, but especially at night,” Brittney Aguirre, psychology major, said.
Students are concerned about the new safety-related technology as they feel they are not seeing enough of it.
“I don’t mean they are not taking it seriously, but they should be focused on things like making sure the emergency blue phones are working or installing more cameras,” Divamar Macias, communications major, said. “Just having a shuttle service or having more police officers patrolling doesn’t really mean anything.”
More security measures, however, are trying to be brought in as quickly as possible, Trevis said.
“The hope is that we can get new security systems up so that everyone can learn how to use them and be able to access them,” Trevis said.
