By JuanJose Ruelas
Pulse Staff Reporter
Students are taking precautions with suspicious activity and are being taught to say something if they see something at Palo Alto College.
The Alamo Colleges Police Department is getting students involved. Fliers around campus provide contact information if something out of the ordinary occurs. If students report a crime or something suspicious, the next one might be prevented.
Corporal Adrianna DeHoyos, campus coordinator for the Alamo Colleges Police Department at Palo Alto College, said, “We only have so many officers on campus. Of course, if everybody is keeping an eye out, we can keep this place safer. So that’s why we say, ‘See something, Say something.’”
Timothy Ramirez, a sophomore Art major at Palo Alto College, said, “I would go to campus police because they are around. There are little posters on the wall that say, ‘See something, Say something,’ so I guess I would call that number.”
Andres Cruz, a graduate and employee at Palo Alto College, said, “I have to report everything suspicious, especially if you see someone messing with a car. Stuff goes missing all the time, and it’s better to say something and ask questions.”
Palo Alto College is making sure everyone is safe by conducting required emergency drills and giving students an alert with an email, text message and a voice call.
In March, students should have received three calls from the police department for a practice drill.
Samantha Esparza, a sophomore Communication major at Palo Alto College, said, “They send me text messages and blow up my phone constantly, so I feel like in an event of an actual emergency, I’m just going to ignore it.”
Some students ignore the alerts because of how frequently Palo Alto College does their practice emergency drills. If an emergency did happen and students are trying to hide but their phone goes off with an alert from PAC, is this safe or not?
“You would think students would want to be notified. Hey this is a drill, okay it’s a drill. And when they tell you, ‘This is not a drill! Take cover!’ They will tell you what to do,” said DeHoyos.
Jose Juan Flores III, a graduate and employee at Palo Alto College, said, “If you don’t test anything out, how do you expect it to even work? You never know if it’s going to fail or not and once it does, you can fix those problems.”
For students who are not receiving these emergency notifications and want to be in the loop, you must update your contact information in ACES.
Students must login into their ACES and click on the My Page tab. Personal Information is in a box on the bottom left corner. There, you may update your contact information including email, phone numbers and emergency contacts.
DeHoyos wants to remind students to be careful about walking around with earphones and to be aware of your surroundings. Have your keys in your hands for protection and always fight back. Do what you must to get someone else’s attention so they can provide help.
With everything that is going on in the United States, like the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, Palo Alto College and the Alamo Colleges Police Department are trying their best to protect their students and prevent any future emergencies.
PAC’s campus actually is the safest in district. If you see something, say something! Contact the police department immediately whenever you see or hear something suspicious or unusual. For Non-Emergencies, call (210) 485-0099 and for Emergencies, call (210) 485-0911.
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