Recent events surrounding school shootings across the nation have made it imperative for both high school and university campuses alike to take security to a higher level than before.
Officer Martin Williamson, chief of police at California State University, Bakersfield, was able to shed light on what CSUB has done to prepare in the event of an emergency.
“We have a standard training, we do evacuation drills twice a year,” Williamson said. “Before the Taft Union High School shooting, the university police department and myself created an active shooter training that we present to the campus where we have lessons learned on prior active shooting situations like Virginia Tech and high school shootings such as Columbine High School that changed the way we do business.”
According to the FBI website, “Homicides in schools have decreased since 1994 despite periods of copycat shootings during the late 1990s and 2007 to 2008.”
Elevated news coverage as well as the coming of social media have certainly changed the way shootings are perceived by the general public.
“Members of the mass media publicize and inadvertently glorify these events to capture the attention of viewers and readers. Unfortunately, many of the portrayals have led to faulty assumptions and stereotypes of the school violence perpetrator” according to the FBI site.
“At CSUB,” according to Williamson, “we have police on campus 24 hours a day. Our response for emergency calls on campus average closer to 90 seconds and less than two minutes before I can have an officer on the scene.”
In regard to CSUB safety, Williamson said: “I am very proud, I’ve been here almost four years. I do believe that CSUB is either one of the lowest if not the lowest crime rate in the entire CSU. We use the CSUB logo, If you See It, Say It, It’s Your University.”
In the 2013 Jeanne Clery Act Disclosure of Campus Crime Statistics pamphlet available on the csub.edu website, there is a message from Williamson in regard to university safety: “The department strives to promote and maintain a safe campus environment conducive to academic achievement. A truly safe campus can only be achieved through cooperation of the students, faculty and staff. With your help and participation, and our commitment, I am confident the time you spend with us will be safe and productive.”
Dr. Barbara Bartholomew, a professor on campus said, “CSUB has emergency drills in place that it has trained its staff in. Emergency alerts can be sent via text to our CSUB community. We have a very good and responsive police presence on campus. I think the school has done what it can to assure our safety. I have never felt in danger at this school no matter the hour I have come or gone.”
An article in the Bakersfield Californian in January 2013 just after the Taft Union High School shooting, announces the policy changes and upgraded security changes implemented in schools in and around our area. “(John) Mendiburu updated the school district’s website Friday, reiterating for parents the safety measures in place at schools and suggesting how they can talk to their kids about the shootings. He’d offered the same suggestions after the Sandy Hook killings.” Mendiburu is superintendent of the Rosedale Union School District.
In the Kern High School District, since the Taft High School shooting in 2013, many changes have been implemented. Bartholomew is also constantly in contact with the KHSD. She has noticed some major changes in the school district. Bartholomew said, “After the Taft episode, the arrangements became more complicated, with many more rules driven by the heavy hand of district office control.”