By Maysen Marolda
Staff Writer
Following Costa’s two-day closure spurred by threats posted on Yik Yak, a social media application, drastic measures were taken to increase the level of security on campus. The new and improved safety measures enforced the inspection of students backpacks before impending onto campus and on regulations put on students leaving the campus, which created a safer environment. However, now these measures are executed less rigorously, which is putting students and staff in danger.
Before the Yik Yak incident, there were unlimited points of access to enter the campus and there were less security personnel patrolling school grounds. Following the Yik Yak threats, new measures were put in place at the entrances, such as students were greeted by security guards, teachers and police officers. Now, these measures are enforced less strictly.
According to Costa Security Lead Ray Lee, following the Yik Yak threats, there were police officers stationed at every access point checking the student’s backpacks as they entered campus. This measure was strongly implemented for days after the threats, but is no longer carried out. Security personnel should continue to check students bags to ensure that no one is bringing any potential dangers onto campus, such as bombs or guns.
In order to ensure the safety of the Costa community following the threats, the number of police officers positioned throughout campus was enhanced. As stated by Lee, now there is only one officer who patrols campus, School Resource Officer John Loy. This recession to one officer puts the safety of the Costa community in danger because one officer cannot patrol every aspect of school grounds, which is an invitation to potential intruders. Multiple police officers should be on duty at all times to patrol the campus so that no one can freely walk onto school grounds.
According to Lee, issued this year was the necessity for students who have an excused fifth or sixth period to obtain a sticker to place on their identification cards so that every time they leave campus, security guards do not have to question where they are going. However, the security personnel do not always check students cards to make sure they have a verified reason for leaving. The security guards should be required to question all students to assure no one is freely leaving for suspicious reasons.
As stated by Lee, Costa maintains five security personnel who acquire staggered shifts throughout the school day, so some shifts do not have a guard manned to every entrance at all times. In order to enhance security measures, these shifts should be organized so that each entryway has a positioned security personnel to ensure that no one can walk onto campus without having a verified reason and pose as a potential danger.
Although new measures have been put in place such as consolidating the number of access points and students obtaining an off-grounds sticker to be able to leave campus, the level of security has diminished since the Yik Yak threats. School threatening crises should not be reasons for enhancing levels of security, they should implemented year-round.
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