The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

Campus Viewpoints: Community voices safety concerns

The attack on Junko Hanafusa on Dec. 24 has made students, faculty and staff wonder if El Camino College is doing enough to increase safety measures on campus.

The Union asked people on campus on Feb. 14 how they feel about safety, what they are doing to stay safe and if they use the Nixle emergency alert text notification.

John Anderson, 19, who is studying mechanical engineering, hadn’t heard about Nixle.

“I feel like the school should promote and talk about the app more. I’m sure the majority of students don’t know about it,” he said. “I feel like students should have the app and use it often.”

Another student, Angel Flores, 18, who is studying forensic psychology, doesn’t know about Nixle either. She gets email alerts on crimes from the college. She said she only knew about the attack because her mother told her about it.

El Camino Police Sergeant Ruben Lopez waits in a golf cart for students to pass by next to the Arts Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Raphael Richardson | The Union)
El Camino College Police Sgt. Ruben Lopez waits in a golf cart for students to pass by next to the Arts Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Raphael Richardson | The Union)

Angel Rodriguez, 24, a state parks maintenance member from the San Fernando Valley, said he feels uncomfortable about his girlfriend going to her early morning classes at El Camino.

“I’m sure she’s here by herself. It’s definitely something I’m more concerned about,” Rodriguez said.

Some students, like fashion design major Kathleen Muniz, 32, from Gardena, are also concerned about safety on campus.

“I’m a little reluctant [to go to campus],” she said.

Muniz found out about the attack on Hanafusa through social media, but not through Nixle. She doesn’t know what Nixle is, and was surprised that the attack had happened on campus.

Fashion design major Kathleen Muniz
Fashion design major Kathleen Muniz, 32, said that she is reluctant to go back to campus because of safety concerns. (Nasai Rivas | The Union)

Muniz said that there should be more campus police around at night.

“Especially for fashion, a lot of us are women. We are coming out [of our classes] at 7:20 p.m.,” she said. “I don’t want to be walking by myself all the way to garage parking.”

Employees on campus are shocked by the murder.

Brittani Crimes, student services specialist at the Office of Outreach and School Relations, said she found out about the attack on campus from her supervisor, a day or two after it happened.

“It’s scary at night. Even during the day, it’s sketchy,” Crimes said. “I feel like it would be nice to have a higher police presence on campus.”

Crimes said that when she was taking night classes, she would use a buddy system for safety, something she still does today as a staff worker.

“The police are doing the best they can, I just wish there was a higher police presence,” Crimes said. “We just want to let [students] know, as Outreach [personnel], that it’s safe on campus.”

Administration of Justice major Anthony Zuniga said that he was unaware of the attack occurring on campus and was surprised to find that the school had not released any information on it for 15 days.

“I feel safe for the most part on campus… I take morning and night classes, and it’s about a three-minute walk to my car,” Zuniga said. “I figured that [El Camino] should have immediately informed [people].

Zuniga focused on the fact that there was a delay in informing the public about the attack.

An El Camino Police patrol car sits parked by the Campus Police building at El Camino College on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Raphael Richardson | The Union)
An El Camino College Police patrol car sits parked by the Campus Police building at El Camino College on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Raphael Richardson | The Union)

“I don’t know if you can take measures with stuff like that, just informing us when stuff like that happens immediately,” Zuniga said. “I feel like maybe they should take this as a lesson to inform people faster.”

Union editors Erica Lee, Ma. Gisela Ordenes and Nasai Rivas; and Union reporters Joshua Flores, Jolan Marney, Jaylen Morgan and Joseph Ramirez contributed to this story.

 

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