Trespassing incidents raise concerns about efficiency of security
Max GumbelStaff WriterRecurring incidents of trespassing on the Samo campus by non-Samo students have left the student population worried about school safety.Eighteen-year old Sergio Curiel, a resident of Inglewood who posed as a minor to enter campus, was one trespasser arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) on Feb. 3, allegedly attempting to stalk his ex-girlfriend, a Samo student, SMPD said in a police report.Curiel entered Samo gates without authorization for two consecutive days before he was arrested, and it is suspected that Curiel stole his ex-girlfriend’s cell phone and gave false information to a police officer.In addition, freshman Roheem Karimali said that she overheard talk about another trespassing incident in the I-house office last week.“I heard house assistant Chanée Washington talking to a security guard in the I-house office about a boy who had gotten on campus without an ID, whom she had detained and brought to the office,” Karimali said. “Washington said that the kid was walking the halls during class time, and that when she asked for identification from him, he said he did not have any and that he had entered campus at 6:47 a.m. before any security guards were there. Then, the security guard took the kid out of the house office to go to the main office.”The administration was unavailable for comment on the alleged, second trespassing.Samo students and staff are concerned about what these security breaches say about how safe the campus actually is.“This year has been a kind of wake-up call,” sophomore Isabel Nicholls said. “It is now clear that we are not completely safe, and that anyone can get on campus if they really try. I am scared at the thought that someone dangerous could so easily blend into the Samo environment.”Sophomore Felix Horan believes that the incidents show that school security can only maintain a certain amount of school safety.“I think school security officers are mostly here to intimidate people away from crimes and policy violations,” Horan said. “Their job is to give the appearance that the school cannot be endangered, but I do not think there is anyway to completely avert danger.”The apparent abilities of trespassers to get onto campus before it is secure, and to disguise themselves as students, have raised concern about the actual potency of the Samo identification (ID) card system, which requires that students show their ID cards before entering campus gates.“The ID cards are really easy to recreate and tamper with, and in my experience security guards do not look at them that closely,” junior Matilda Mead said. “I could use a friend’s ID instead of mine and still avoid getting detained, or show up early.”In Nicholls’s experience, even if a student does not have his or her ID card with him or her, he or she can still get on campus by reciting his or her ID number, which she said can easily be made up.According to H-House principal Leslie Wells, the ID card system started when the school was going through a similar period of turmoil.“We were hearing that students from other schools were trying to get on campus, so we started checking IDs,” Wells said. “The cards discourage others from trying to get on campus, and reinforce the idea that we are trying to keep our campus safer.”Junior Collin Knybel believes that the ID card system would be difficult to improve.“I think the system there are ways by which the ID card system could be improved , but it is also a problem of efficiency,” Knybel said. “With such a minimal amount of staff, and such a large amount of students, the process is hard to completely enforce without compromising the speed of students entering and leaving campus or hiring new employees.”Wells agrees that proposed methods for improvement, such as using technology, are not very realistic.“With our current physical layout and resources, there isn’t much better that we can do,” Wells said.According to Dean of Students Catherine Baxter, the series of worrisome events around Samo is also not necessarily a sign that the ID system needs to change.“Our culture naturally goes through cycles where some years are chaotic, and some are quiet and calm,” Baxter said. “I think that our school will return to the calm.”