By a 4-0 vote, with Trustee Debbie Justeson absent, the board agreed to spend about $1.4 million in a 10-month period to pay for seven deputies and a sergeant in hopes of improving security on its two campuses and provide access to the sheriff’s specialized units.
Esau Cortez, the student government president at Grossmont College, said he was disappointed in what he characterized as a lack of transparency on the part of the district and said sheriff’s deputies are not the best fit.
Chancellor Cindy Miles said the plan to contract with county law enforcement had been discussed since 2010.
“My concern is that we can’t move quickly enough to have our campuses at the level of safety we need to have,” Miles said.
District public safety officers currently serve the campuses in El Cajon and Rancho San Diego. After-hours patrols have been outsourced to a private security company. The cost for six officers, a supervisor, a dispatcher and a clerk is about $930,000 for the whole department, said district spokeswoman Anne Krueger.
In addition to the $1.4 million cost for the Sheriff’s Department, the district will pay about $184,000 in startup costs. Deputies will take over Aug. 19. In the following year, a full 12-month term, the cost will be $1.6 million.
Recent shootings at Santa Monica College “once again emphasize how vitally important it is for our campuses to have the most comprehensive police and emergency protection possible,” Miles said earlier this month.
Krueger said the district has offered jobs to campus officers in its Campus and Parking Services Department. Its duties include walking people to their cars and issuing parking tickets.
Source-UT-San Diego