Campus unguarded

Cesar Chavez Library broken into, again

Scene+left+after+vandalization+early+Sunday+Nov.+19

Courtesy of SJECC District Police

Scene left after vandalization early Sunday Nov. 19

Melissa Maria Martinez, Times Staff

A burglary occurred at the SJCC Cesar Chavez Library at approximately 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19.

“It looked like it was an individual that knew what they were looking for,” District Chief of Police Thomas Morales said, “they knew exactly what room they wanted to get into.”

Chief Morales said he would not disclose the exact amount of assessed damage but did say the individuals got away with a couple hundred dollars in cash.

Morales said four alarms were triggered during the incident and district police requested police presence after the second alarm went off.

According to Morales, the burglary was placed as a low priority to San Jose Police who were overwhelmed during the time the crime took place.

“Quite a bit of time passed before they responded back to say they were going to be able to answer the call,” Morales said.

This is the second time the library has been broken into within the last six months.

In May, Chief Morales told Times Staff security cameras would be installed during the summer break, but this phase of the security plan has not yet been implemented.

During a meeting of the Facilities and Safety Technology Committee, Vice president of Administrative Services Jorge Escobar said there have been some challenges regarding the implementation of the campus security cameras but there has been progress.

College faculty and committee member, Phil Crawford said he was concerned that the college is not being properly guarded.

“We have these multimillion-dollar facilities,” Crawford said, “we can’t leave a multimillion dollar plan devoid of security.”