With students in need of paying for parking permits, they swiftly dash for the cashier’s line. And what do they find? They find about 25 to 30 people in line waiting to do the same thing.
With the Cashier’s Office expecting a wait time of about 30 to 40 minutes, cadets need to be in place to help facilitate efficiency of the line, Sgt. Dal Toruno of the El Camino Police Department said.
Police cadets monitor the cashier’s line during peak hours in order to serve a dual purpose, Toruno said.
“They act as public information officers. If students have questions like, ‘What’s the line for? Am I in the right place?’ cadets can help answer those,” Toruno said.
Kenji Tomoda, 18, business administration major, said that cashiers are working as quickly as they can to process student requests, and said he didn’t mind the wait.
“It’s the new semester, so there are new students who have lots of questions,” Tomoda said, “The line is pretty long, but I think it’s moving efficiently.”
Other students, like Kayu Lam, 21, business administration major, said she was frustrated that she had to wait in such a long line solely to purchase a parking permit.
“I already paid online for my waitlisted classes. I had to wait 40 minutes here just to pick up my parking pass. I don’t even know whether I will get into those or my other two classes,” Lam said.
Police cadets in the Cashier’s Office are also intended to act as deterrents against these kinds of frustrations escalating, Toruno said.
“[Cadets] are there to be visible. People see them, and incidents are kept at a minimum,” Toruno said, “Sometimes, students just need to vent. When cadets are there, they just make their comments and leave.”
Cadets calm students and make them feel more at ease, Dena Langowski, cashier, said.
“Our first priority is the students in line; the second is mailing out parking permits. The cadets help scoot people along, to avoid confusion, so we can focus on our priorities,” Langowski said.
While lines are expected to diminish over the next two weeks, cadets will remain in the Cashier’s Office for as long as they are needed, to help payment-processing run as smoothly as possible.
“Our cadets are there for both the students and the staff,” Toruno said.
