On April 25, Mt. SAC’s Police and Campus Safety held an open forum presenting the final three candidates for the Campus Safety Chief opening.

The event was held in room 1700 of building 13 at 9:30 a.m. Students and staff were able to attend both in person and via YouTube live stream. Each of the three finalists provided relevant experiences and qualifications for the position.

Vice President of Administrative Services Morris Rodrigue proctored the forum, asking questions regarding the finalist’s relevant experience, their outlook on improving security and how aware they are about recent safety issues on campus.

Candidate Deronda Dubose has 22-years of experience in law enforcement and additional experience as an adjunct professor at the University of Phoenix. She explained her plan to integrate technology into campus safety.

“So my biggest strategy, I think, as far as physical security, I think physical security has to be combined with technology,” Debose said. “It will ensure that the campus is more safe and more secure and [students] will feel more safe and more secure.”

Dubose also went into depth on her experience running team-oriented law enforcement agencies and the Secret Service.

Rodrigue made sure to ask about how the finalists will train their personnel to deal with mental health crisis on campus.

Kelli Florman, another finalist for the position and the current Chief of Police for the Ventura County Community College District Police, has experience training officers in de-escalation techniques. She gave insight on how to deal with high-pressure situations.

“Just knowing how to talk to people … there are certain words you could use to de-escalate a situation … the calmer you talk, the slower your breathing, people tend to mimic that and calm themselves down,” Florman said.

All three finalists spoke about the importance of bettering the school for students and giving them the help they need when they need it.

Roland Gallardo, the third candidate, also has a background in law enforcement working in the Los Angeles Police Department. He explained what should happen when things go wrong.

“When something like that happens, we have a notification system in place to make sure that the students are aware that something is happening on campus and to stay away from campus, shelter in place, or not come onto campus,” Gallardo said. “[We will] put out another notification that the area is clear, and they can come back onto campus.”

When asked about the finalists for Campus Safety Chief, Mt. SAC President Martha Garcia said she is extremely confident the final three’s experiences will be great fits for the school.

“Frankly, I feel that we’re going to select someone that’s really going to help enhance safety on campus,” Garcia said.

Mt. SAC has not announced its next steps or when the next chief will be appointed. To view the entire conference, visit the Mt. SAC Youtube page where it will be up for the remainder of the week.