WCC is a safe campus. That’s the take away from the 2018 Windward Community College Annual Security Report, which was released in September and is the most recent source of campus crime statistics available.
The report, which revealed crime statistics for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 calendar years, showed that most crimes had a zero occurrence over the three-year period.
In 2017, however, five crimes total were reported. Two were sexual assaults. Three were motor vehicle thefts.
According to WCC interim safety and security manager Faye Chambers, of the reported car thefts, the first involved a car being taken but a suspect was never found. The second involved someone attempting to steal a moped but not getting it off campus.
The third involved someone reporting that they had parked a car in one spot on campus but the car was later found in another parking lot. WCC is ordered to classify all attempts and successful thefts as one statistic; they are not differentiated.
In addition, the report showed that there were two disciplinary referrals in 2017, one for liquor law violations and one for drug law violations. There were no arrests on campus nor Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offenses in 2017.
Chambers attributes the overall low crime rate in 2017 to security always being “visible” on campus. There is a security policy that at least one security personnel be on duty at all times of the year.
In the event of an emergency or someone needing assisted security help, security officers are trained on how to respond to a situation.
Chambers said the goal is to teach them to conserve energy in the event of an emergency to fully maximize the potential of de-escalating a situation in an effective and safe manner.
The average response times of security officers getting from the bottom of campus to the top is about one and half minutes on the security carts and two and a half to four minutes on foot.
WCC student Nathan Runion, however, said he once needed security on campus, and it took them awhile to show up.
“They did not show up promptly when I needed them,” Runion said.
In order to ensure that all security personnel are able to respond to emergencies safely, Chambers said they must take a recertification class annually.
“All officers have to be recertified in a 32-40 hour course every year at Windward Community College,” she said.
Chambers is also certified in Threat Pattern Recognition and Defensive measures, which teaches the security guards on campus to effectively handle and dissipate a situation.
One initiative the security department is working on is getting the blue safety lights on campus fixed. In the case of an emergency, the department could broadcast warnings from the lights’ speakers and inform students and faculty outside that danger is near and that they must take shelter.
To read the full 2018 security report and find out more about the security department’s procedures on reporting crimes, emergency procedures, crime prevention programs, important policy statements and crime statistics, go to https://windward.hawaii.edu/security/. You can also reach security by phone at 235-7355.
by Madelyn Barr, Ka ‘Ohana Staff Reporter
