YCCD to onboard temporary security
May 10—The Yuba Community College District is moving forward with its implementation of a hybrid security model in hopes of improving safety measures across its five campuses, officials announced on Friday.
In February, the district Board of Trustees voted to replace its campus police forces with a new security model after finding several deficiencies in safety and security. The district will move forward with a new Division of Security and Risk Management, which will contract county and city school resource officers, and full-time, in-house, non-commissioned security officers. However, the district is onboarding a temporary security team until the new department is established, officials said.
After reviewing proposals from several security service agencies, the board voted to hire American Guard Services, Inc. on Thursday for a bid of over $1.2 million. Yuba Community College District intends to use its services until the in-house security team is staffed and fully operational.
"(American Guard Services) was chosen for their extensive experience, broad range of resources and thorough understanding of what is required to protect a higher education institution," Yuba Community College District Chancellor Shouan Pan said in a statement. "We feel assured that they will fulfill our top priority to keep our employees, students and visitors safe at all locations."
An assessment of campus police services was conducted for the college district by Tactical Training Academy between Sept. 24 and 27, 2023, to evaluate the necessity of on-campus law enforcement, including policy, procedure, training, command, coordination, budget, and staffing practices.
According to the evaluation, the Yuba Community College District Police Department had offices onsite for Yuba College's Marysville campus and Woodland College. The remaining three campuses in the district do not have regular law enforcement staffing, but police from the Marysville and Woodland campuses can respond to emergencies as needed.
Based on documented staffing issues, gaps in coverage and possible liabilities, the Tactical Training Academy believed that the previous safety and security system was flawed and in need of an "urgent revamp." The report recommended instituting a new campus safety and risk management program, which could be supplemented by contracted local sworn police officers as needed.
The district is actively processing applications for the district director position to lead the new Division of Safety and Risk Management, officials said. Once selected and approved by the Board of Trustees, the district will proceed to staff the department, which will help provide a range of public safety services to address incident reports, investigations and traffic control through partnerships with local law enforcement.
Officials expect to finalize an approved agreement with American Guard Services and appointed school resource officers by July 1.
