Services & Programs

The Department of Campus Safety has partnered with safety experts to provide the College community with an interactive active shooter training program. H.E.R.O. prepares individuals to respond to the threat of an active shooter with the use of four strategies: Hide, Escape, Run, Overcome. Though no one can guarantee success in this type of situation, this new set of skills will greatly increase the odds of survival should anyone face this form of disaster.

The purpose of the Authorized Driver and Vehicle Fleet Safety Policy is to establish guidelines for safe operation of vehicles, both motor and electric, used for College business. This policy establishes the methods by which the Whittier College Vehicle Fleet Safety program will be implemented and maintained. It is the intent of these guidelines to prevent injury to students, employees, and guests, to protect on-campus pedestrians, to reduce damage to College property, and to provide safe driving standards for all College vehicle operators, and their passengers. This policy applies to all employees, faculty, staff, and students driving, or supervising the operation of College owned, rented, or leased vehicles. 

• College employees who contract services, and/or utilize drivers or sub-contract services (utilizing drivers), for College events (such as Commencement, Conference Services, Student Services, Alumni Functions, etc.) are expected to ensure compliance with this policy for events under their supervision/planning direction.
• Contracted service providers must be able to provide evidence/certificate of safe driving standards.
• This program provides for initial and annual review training for all individuals who operate and/or oversee the operation and use of vehicles.
• Under the Authorized Driver policy, all students, faculty, and staff must submit an “American Driving Record (ADR)” form to Human Resources, annually, for a driver’s record check.  Once this is approved, a “behind-the-wheel” electric vehicle test must be scheduled through the Department of Campus Safety. 
• An “Authorized Driver Identification Card” is issued upon completion of this process, and is valid for the duration of the school year.

Security awareness and crime prevention programs offered each academic year include date rape and sexual assault programs, a Campus Safety-sponsored theft prevention program, Operation Identification (engraving valuables) and personal safety discussions with Campus Safety. In addition, alcohol and drug education programs are offered throughout the year, including a Resident Advisor in-service presented by the Campus Safety Department. A summary of Campus Safety incidents are published monthly in the Quaker Campus.

Students are encouraged to lock their doors and invest in personal property insurance. The College will make reasonable efforts to protect students’ property. However, the College is not liable for loss, theft or damage of any property belonging to residents.

Whittier College residence halls are considered private property. Detailed information regarding residence hall security and safety procedure is discussed at floor and hall-wide meetings held at the beginning of each academic semester and periodically throughout the year. Specifically, staff members are not permitted to unlock a door for anyone other than the resident of the room. Illegal entry into a student’s room may result in loss of housing privileges. Propping open exterior residence hall doors is forbidden.

Each residence hall is inspected thoroughly for health and safety reasons each semester by the Assistant Director. Maintenance personnel follow up with safety concerns in and around residence halls on a daily basis. Lighting is inspected monthly by campus patrols and whenever a Maintenance Department request for inspection and replacement is received.

Campus Safety is authorized by the California Penal Code Section 837 and Whittier College to make private person arrests. Campus Safety communicates regularly with the Whittier Police Department’s patrol, investigation and crime prevention officers.

Whittier College currently has 10 emergency call box systems, also known as “blue-light emergency phones”, deployed across various locations on campus. These call boxes can be used to report criminal activity and any other types of emergencies requiring immediate Campus Safety assistance simply by pressing the button on the box.  

Each summer, the Fire & Life Safety Division conducts annual training for the Resident Advisors and Residential Life professional staff. Training covers:

• Fire prevention
• Current trends and national statistics of fires and causes on college campuses
• Building evacuations and emergency preparedness
• Life safety systems
• Hands-on fire extinguisher training

Fire Safety training is available to all students, staff, and faculty and can be customized for particular departments.

First Aid, C.P.R. /A.E.D certification courses are held annually for Department of Campus Safety personnel.  These classes are also available to the College community. The certification course is normally completed in an eight hour time frame, depending on the class size.  The classes begin with an introduction and course overview. All students are encouraged to take notes during the video segments, as well as participate in the hands-on exercises. Each student is also required to perform proper rescue breathing, C.P.R. chest compressions and the “Heimlich” maneuver. Each segment has a step by step training video that helps students utilize and learn fundamental steps for learning each lifesaving technique.

For more information on the First Aid and CPR program, please contact Lt. Rolando Fuentes rfuentes@whittier.edu. 

Certified Campus Safety personnel instruct a one unit course, available to registered students, in Women's Self Defense every semester.  The self-defense course follows the guidelines of the R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) Systems of Self Defense, which is an official self-defense training program of the National Academy of Defense Education.

The course instructors attempt to provide students with information, tactics, and considerations that may be useful for various types of abductive encounters perpetrated against women.   During the course, students will participate in classroom discussions that are designed to increase awareness and education. Students will also participate in the learning of defensive tactics and techniques designed to provide options for women during an abductive encounter.  A course final is conducted at the end of the semester, and each student is expected to demonstrate the many different options they were introduced to throughout the course. By the end of final, students will display an increase in confidence and awareness.

R.A.D. is offered or Whittier College students or as an educational program for the College community. To schedule a RAD training seminar for your group please contact Campus Safety at 562.907.4211.

Emergencies such as power outages, earthquakes, and violent crimes happen everywhere. Whittier College is committed to ensuring that all students, faculty, and staff live, learn, and work in a secure environment. Toward that end, Campus Safety continually reviews its emergency management procedures, which involves refining processes designed to deal with various types of emergencies and monitoring developing events and issues in a rapidly changing environment.  To assist with this task, the Director of Campus Safety and Safety and Compliance Coordinator co-chair an Environmental Health and Safety Committee. The Environmental Health and Safety Committee meets monthly to review policy, discuss safety programs, review emergency preparedness plans. 

The Department of Campus Safety conducts these tours in conjunction with Facilities and Residence Life staff. The tours take place during a range of shift/hours to better gauge the day-to-day operations and to identify potential hazards to the safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors on the college campus as well as student residential areas.