On Monday, April 15, Mt. SAC held another campus safety forum announcing the installation of approximately 100 cameras in building 26, taking action for equitable emergency protocols and installing more lighting for night classes.
President Martha Garcia stated in a campus-wide email on April 11, “your engagement and valuable feedback have been instrumental in shaping our ongoing efforts to enhance campus safety.”
The camera installation will start by the beginning of Fall 2024 and will only cover building 26A-D.
Vice President of Administrative Services Morris Rodrigue said that the cameras will only be installed in public spaces, excluding faculty offices.
When asked by psychology professor Shiloh Blacksher how the data will be managed due to privacy concerns, Morris mentioned that there is already a camera policy in place, and said that only the Campus Safety Chief of Police and the President could access the data.
The camera policy Morris is talking about is Board Policy 6510 Networked Video Cameras, which was last approved in 2017. This BP restricts the college from installing cameras in places “where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
Additionally, the BP does not allow Mt. SAC to use recordings from installed cameras to “determine promotions or transfers, to discipline bargaining unit employees or to evaluate work performance,” as it was instituted before the installation of cameras onto campus and can be exercised by the College President.
Allie Fredrickson, a third-year Mt. SAC student and a sign language and interpreting major, wanted more information about the camera installation process.
She expressed that she is glad that there is a course of action, but felt that there should be more foot patrols in 26D ground level and that the forum only scraped the surface of safety in that particular area.
Garcia also mentioned that an action plan is in progress for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and faculty, mirroring the suggestions given in the Oct. 26 campus safety forum. One student recommended that Mt. SAC analyzed deaf schools’ emergency protocols to accommodate their needs.
“We need to take action,” Garcia said. “We need to create an action plan that demonstrates to them that their concerns are taken seriously and that demonstrates to them specifically that it matters to us that they feel safe on this campus.”
Although no action plan has been created, a team was created to address DHH student and faculty concerns that visited the California School for the Deaf in Riverside to learn about their emergency protocols.
Jelly Taitano, a 43-year-old sign language major, felt glad that Mt. SAC was concerned about their DHH population, but wanted something more concrete.
Taitano said that the forum felt like niceties rather than a specific plan that would help. “I know she said it’s pending but I didn’t feel satisfied,” Taitano said.
Another point that many students brought up in the previous campus safety forum was the lack of lighting on campus for night classes.
Garcia announced that LED lighting will be installed in buildings 6, 26A-D, 60, 61 and other areas will be assessed for installation as well.
Lastly, Garcia addressed changes to the Mt. SAC Police and Campus Safety.
Since the start of 2024, Campus Safety personnel have taken a combined 291 hours of training in deescalation and first aid.
Mt. SAC has also opened two new sergeant positions, a lieutenant position and three new public safety officer positions.
Additionally, there will be a Mt. SAC Police Chief Candidate Forum to determine who will fill Former Chief of Police Mike Williams’s shoes as he retired last year.
Garcia promised to keep up the campus safety forums every semester ending the forum.
“Take care,” Garcia said. “Be well. We’ll have another forum next semester.”
