Dear friends and colleagues,
Working with community college students is one of the great privileges of my life. They are passionate and idealistic. They will change the world.
Sadly, they have to ask themselves whether they are safe from gun violence in their classrooms, here and around the nation, most recently at a high school in Florida. How brave have students been to immediately speak out, asking more from their elected public servants when it comes to addressing gun violence at schools. I wish fervently that they did not have to think about it. But I am a realist. We all have to think about it.
While our elected lawmakers have the heavy responsibility of deciding how to make laws that address access to guns, and care for people with a mental health condition, we all have to search our own hearts.
As individuals, we vote with our actions at work and at home. We vote with what we purchase and how we prepare. When we are in a tough spot, all we can do is control what is ours to control.
At our two campuses, San Bernardino Valley College and Crafton Hills College, safety is a shared responsibility. We prepare for those worst case scenarios, and that includes an active shooter.
We have emergency plans that are continually being updated and improved, as well as training exercises for college police and security officers that are as realistic as we can make them. An emergency notification system delivers a message during a crisis to our college-issued telephone or email address. It will even push messages to your personal cell phone if you have registered your cell phone in the system. So if you are affiliated with our campuses, please do that. Please register your phone.
We have alarms on the buildings, and we have cameras in many of our public spaces, and we will install more. One of the things I hear most often from our campus faculty and staff is about what they might do if they are caught in an active shooter scenario. How will they protect our students, and protect themselves.
I am able to share that we have retrofitted the door hardware on the campuses so they lock from the inside of the room. We also offer online and live training for our staff and faculty on how to handle emergencies, including earthquakes and armed intruders.
We have a police department filled with sworn California peace officers working closely with local law enforcement agencies, so any response is coordinated. Our first responders know each other and work with each other regularly. That helps immensely when a crisis happens.
Our police chief, Al Jackson, is a 35-year law enforcement veteran of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Police Departments, managing our 24-hour police operation to promote the safety of 21,000 students and 1,200 faculty and staff members. His experience in large police departments and his knowledge of crisis planning is invaluable to the district. With support from the San Bernardino Community College District Board of Trustees, investing in campus safety resources is our highest priority.
Training, as you know, is the primary mission here in the San Bernardino Community College District. We have created excellent academies in fire science and police response.
We are training the Inland Empire's future first responders. In fact, our graduates are hired all over the state of California. Some of their instructors are currently working in the field or recently retired. In that way, we have the potential for even more trained emergency responders on our campus every day.
The curriculum they teach includes training for multi-agency responses to a crisis, as well as medical training and techniques that come from working in the real-world helping people from all walks of life.
However, security systems and safety personnel are only part of the equation.
We recognize that students today face increasing pressures that can lead to emotional anguish, depression, anxiety, substance abuse and even thoughts of harming themselves or others. That is why California community colleges have adopted an online conversation simulation program,
At-Risk
, to educate our faculty, staff, and students about best practices in supporting students with psychological distress.
Through research-proven virtual and interactive role-play conversations, we practice how to communicate with students who may need help, and, if necessary, refer them to free mental health counseling available on campus. After all, a mentally healthy college is a safer college.
The task of securing our campuses against dangerous events is never-ending. We hope never to have to take the exam on this subject. But we are preparing just the same.
Let's continue this conversation. As always, please email your ideas and thoughts to me at
bbaron@sbccd.edu
.
Onward,
Bruce
Bruce Baron, Chancellor
