Thanks to cadets, Campus Safety response

times have decreased.
The cadet program has assisted in both
crime prevention and response times,
according to cadet coordinator, Chris March.
“Sometimes we have one officer and three
cadets, so the cadets can take lower level
calls while the officer can focus on higher
priority calls,” said March, who is also a
Central Oregon Community College Campus
Safety Officer.

Four years ago, the cadet program was
started by former Cadet Coordinator, Christina
Blake, with one goal in mind: Giving criminal
justice majors hands on experience in the field.
“The program helps get students involved in
the department and college,” March said. “It really
gets them thinking about criminal justice.”
According to March, the program helps
students apply what they learn in class to real
world experiences as well as know what law
enforcement training will be like.
Cadets typically are recruited from the
COCC criminal justice program and from recruiting
events such as club information fairs
on campus.
Once they have found potential cadets, they
go through an application process and background
check like any other job. After the background
check is cleared, they meet with March
for a face-to-face interview to determine if they
are right for the program.
Once chosen, cadets must go through eighty
hours of basic training academy where March,
along with other officers, do veracious presentations.
The presentations give cadets the basic
knowledge and understanding of the Public
Safety profession. They receive hands on training
after they have successfully learned and retained
the information and material. Academy
days are held on Fridays where cadets are required
to put in six hours per Friday for the first
three weeks.
Following those three weeks, Cadets are encouraged
to put in two hours extra a week for
a ride along. Once they have completed academy
training, they must find six hours a week
to come in and work. This can be broken up
throughout the week but they must have a minimal
time of two hours a day or do the full six
hours in one day.
After training, cadets are able to assist with
tasks such as parking monitoring, which has
helped the department reduce response times to
more urgent calls, according to March.
Currently, four students are employed as cadets
with the department and often times cadets
are able to move up into officer positions, according
to March. In total, four former cadets
have been hired for regular wage jobs and two
promoted to full time with the Campus Safety
department. In addition to the possibility of
future job opportunities, cadets receive experience
toward their CJ 280 class and are able to
get professional references. Cadets also have
the opportunity to have their DPSST Unarmed
Security Certificate paid for which allows them
to be licensed as a security professional.
Don Doughty, COCC’s Crime Prevention
Officer, is one of the many officers who guides
cadets.
“We have future plans to kick off the program
on all four campuses,” Doughty said. “Hopefully,
with more openings in the program,we grow
enough to have cadets help recruit students.”

Liz McKeown | The Broadside
(Contact: [email protected])