With campus getting dark earlier due to the upcoming end of daylight savings, City College officials announced the resumption of the Knights Watch program on campus.
The Knights Watch consists of student workers and City College employees whose primary role is to observe and report, according to VP of Administrative Services John Parker.
“We will be relaunching the Knights Watch,” Parker said recently at a President’s Forum at City College. “They do not issue citations or parking tickets. They cannot profile or detain or stop or arrest anyone to just observe and report to dispatch or their lead.”
Safety on the campus of City College continues to be a concern for students, according to Associate Student Government President Celina Martinez, who responded to a question about safety at a recent President’s Forum.
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“From the student perspective, ASG does currently have student representation commenting on the concerns that students face when it comes to protecting their security, specifically regarding the health and safety committee,” Martinez said.
Safety is a “top priority” according to City College President Ricky Shabazz, who announced the Knights Watch resumption and detailed other actions City is taking, including increased lighting and a new district app.
“You’ll start to see student workers and employees that are walking to campus,” Shabazz said. “I’m making a point to say that we’re not going to police ourselves out of this situation. The way that we are tackling this is the Knights Watch and downloading the new app, SDCCDSafe.”
The new SDCCDsafe app integrates with the San Diego Community College District’s safety and security system and will replace the current LiveSafe app, which will be phased out over the next few weeks according to Parker.
The Knights Watch program had been on hiatus for at least a year and was replaced by a cadet program run by San Diego Community College District Police Department.
The return of the Knights Watch program will not replace the district-wide cadet program and will serve as a “supplement” to the program run by City College, Parker said in an email to City Times.
The Knights Watch is set to begin the first week of November.
Students and faculty can download the SDDCDsafe app here and to learn more about how to stay safe at City visit their website.
This story was edited by Gabriel Vasquez and Itzel Martinez.