The Peralta Colleges Safety Aide program is in high demand due to concerns from students over the poor lighting at Laney College.
Every school within the Peralta district has a Safety Aide or escort program. At the smaller Berkeley City College campus, only about three officers are required on campus. But Laney, due to its massive size, requires at minimum 25 Safety Aids, all of whom are paid Oakland minimum wage and work a maximum of 20 hours a week.
The staff is aware of the lighting problem on campus, but it is an issue that is out of their hands, and one that the school itself is working to fix.
Safety Aide Program Supervisor Allan Tumba-Congo, who has been with the Safety Aide program since 2009, said that, despite the lighting issue at Laney College, the number of assaults and deviant behavior that occurs on campus has gone down considerably over the last three to four years.
“I’m always watching my surroundings,” said Laney student Pamela Marie King. “I’ve heard stories of women being attacked on this campus, and other campuses.”
Two female Laney students described being scared when getting out of their evening classes, and even waiting in the Admissions Office until their ride could come to them. “There is a sense of fear when on campus,” King said.
But many Laney Safety Aides said that their role actually made them, as students, feel safer when being on campus. When Laney College Safety Aide Officer Truong Cong decided that he wanted to major in Administration of Justice, he figured that being a Safety Aide would assist him in pursuing his major. Now, Cong considers the Safety Aides as the “eyes and ears of the school.”
To support them, as of Feb. 2016, the district has started work on a new radio repeater, that will allow for all the Safety Aides at each campus to communicate with one another.
And as you walk across campuses, Cong and his colleagues can be spotted wearing neon yellow vests.
Peralta colleges safety aides
Merritt College: (510) 436–2546
College of Alameda: (510) 748–2311
Laney College: (510) 464–3126
Berkeley City College: (510) 981–2975
Safety Aides are best used for future escorts, scheduled ahead of time. For an immediate escort, please reach out to your campus police.