In 2013, Oxnard College had an active shooter on campus, but officers were able to find the suspect and take him into custody without any incident because of the surveillance cameras allowed officers to observed the situation.
VCCCD Chief of Police Joel Justice said, in an email, that this incident showed everyone in the district how easy it is for these type of situations to occur on any of the district campuses and why it’s important to prepare for these incidents.
“Since then we have invested a lot of time in training for any future active shooters scenarios,” said Justice.
The biggest threats to schools, according to Justice, are from fires or earthquakes not shootings, but campuses still need be prepare because when a shooting happens it can be devastating.
“These are the things that keep me up at night,” said Justice. “Worrying about student safety and faculty safety.”
On March 10, Justice held a presentation to give the Board of Trustees an update on campus emergency preparedness and what is needed to keep and provide better protection for the three colleges.
According to Justice, the board approved $1.9 million back in 2008 to fund emergency preparedness and since then the district has moved forward in acquiring technology, supplies, and training to improve campus safety.
Justice said that currently the District Emergency Preparedness Committee, which is made up of administrators and faculty with the goal of readying campuses to be prepared for many emergency, is working to identify and prioritize the needs such as upgrading the outdoor speaker system and camera system.
The outdoor speaker system needs to be upgraded because it cannot be heard from inside the buildings, said Justice. With the upgrade faculty, staff, and students will be able to hear and clearly understand messages.
He also wants to upgrade the camera system by adding more cameras, so campus police will have the ability to view events that could unfold on campus.
“This would allow the police department the ability to give better instructions to students, faculty, and teachers as to what their best response would be; thus, making the students safer,” said Justice.
During his presentation, Justice said that emergency supplies, stored in mobile trailer/ storage container, such as water, food, first aid supplies, and other items, need to purchase.
Justice said, that these items and the upgrades are planed to be purchase and installed within the next 5 years.
In April, during the Board of Trustees meeting, Justice will present a list of items that they would like to purchase.
