Lt. Cesar Romero will focus on community policing as he takes on the position of supervisor of the Moorpark College Campus Police.

Romero’s top priority as a supervisor has always been campus safety, but second to that has been making his staff as well as students and faculty feel like the police department is part of the community.

“I want to open a line of communication with our staff, our students, and our faculty,” Romero said. “I want to make sure that students and anybody on campus can come up to an officer and have a small talk. I tell my guys we need to make a positive impact to somebody, today and everyday, whether it’s a smile or a hello.”

That attitude is part of a district-wide emphasis, according to VCCCD Chief of Police Joel Justice.

“I want all the lieutenants to be strong in community policing, to get to know the students, to be out there visible to the students,” Justice said. “Lt. Romero has done an outstanding job getting to know the students and people on campus, he has a great working relationship with them. We’re in a period of time where a lot of young people don’t trust the police … he’s gone above and beyond to try and make students feel comfortable, and they often approach the police and have conversations with them.”

As a supervisor, Romero stresses the necessity of having a close relationship between the police department and the rest of the college campus community.

“My focus as a supervisor is number one to ensure that students, staff, and faculty are safe while on school grounds,” Romero said. “But also it goes beyond that, it’s making sure that my staff members, my police officers, my cadets are on the same page with me, which is we gotta be student centered. It’s been proven that when you have a tight community … people are more inclined to report a crime.”

Romero has spent the last 6 years working at the Oxnard College Campus Police and has been part of the VCCCD Police Department for the past 13 years. His move to Moorpark is part of a district-wide plan by Chief of Police Justice to rotate the three lieutenants among the three colleges to keep them familiar with the changes taking place on each campus.

“So much has changed, personnel has changed, a lot of the colleges have added new buildings,” Justice said. “If there’s ever a major event, most likely they’re all gonna respond to that campus, and I want them to know the lay of the land on that campus. So it’s really for their development and to make the district safer.”

Though in Romero’s case, Moorpark College is not an entirely new environment, as he has worked and trained here before.

“About three years ago I was supervising Oxnard and coming out to Moorpark twice a week, and prior to that, my first field training program, about 13 years ago, was here at Moorpark,” Romero said, adding that he is also familiar with the personnel. “I actually know all of them. Half of the officers I’ve trained in the past.”

Romero is reticent of current societal concerns with police, but stands resolute to defy the recent stigma and create an environment where people, students and otherwise, feel safe with their local officers.

“I know community policing works, no matter where you go you gotta build that trust,” Romero said. “With everything that is going on around in the world, this is a time where police officers need to improve those line of communication and reach out more.”