Low student turnout at Diablo Valley College safety forum

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DVC administration leaders at the safety forum at the Diablo Room, on April 26th. Photo taken by Casey Riggs, DVC Inquirer.

Casey Riggs, Staff member

In the wake of community members feeling harassed and a gun threat canceling classesDiablo Valley College held a safety forum in the Diablo Room on Thursday, April 26.

Attendance was low with no more than 20 community members, of which only one was a student. The rest of the audience was a mix of faculty, staff members, officials from every part of campus administration and other interested parties.

“I feel it was productive, I don’t necessarily feel more safe from it, I feel they are taking care of more thing than I thought they were,” said Mahroop Bhang, 19, economics major.

The forum was a public event, where students and the community could voice their concerns on campus safety as well as where district police and campus officials could give insight into campus safety efforts.

Before the community gave their concerns, DVC President Susan Lamb promoted the school’s new “911 shield” phone application, where students can ask for police assistance through the app.

“Before the shut down I had no idea that there were any safety issues at DVC, I knew that there were national issues with shooting  but I didn’t DVC gets threats,” said Bhang adding she, “honestly feels safe” on campus, even at night.

One of the concerns the academic community gave was about how dark the campus is in the evenings due to the old technology of the street lights.

Head of Maintenance & Operations James Buchanan said they are working to improve the lighting on campus but didn’t go into detail how.

Some librarians also gave their concerns that the new classroom speakers only give people the ability to talk to police services but not for police services to talk back to them at this point.

“It’s intended for you to be able to communicate to police services, so we know exactly where you are with your emergency,” said Chief Ed Carney. “The idea is know where you are so we can get you faster.”