Madison Bell/ Roundup
Atypical day at the Pierce College Sheriff’s Department consists of intramural football games and escorts. No, not those kinds of escorts but accompanying students to their cars after late night classes.
Meanwhile, other sheriffs can be seen writing a parking ticket to securing an on-campus event.
Here’s a behind the scenes look
Cheaters wanted
After a long weekend full of partying with friends, Monday rolls around. You sit in class and hear the teacher say, “Take out your scantrons and a number two pencil.”
That’s when you realize today is midterm day. This is the part where you tell yourself to breathe and it will be okay. Once the test arrives on your desk you look at the questions and you are completely dumbfounded.
And that’s when you realize the person sitting next to you always get’s A’s.
You chose to cheat—but then you get caught.
What next?
Your teacher has the option of giving you either a verbal warning or going straight to Student Services, according to Ron Nohles, team leader and supervising deputy sheriff on campus.
“We have had to escort students out of class that had to be notified for cheating,” said Nohles. “Cheating is a major violation here.”
While one may think that cheating on one test isn’t that big of a deal, think again. Once the school is notified, things can turn bad, according to Nohles.
The student will be up for an office hearing, face suspension, or even explosion after the teacher has notified Student Services and the paperwork is filed.
Furthermore, not only will it land you a fail in the class and a lower grade point average, but it will also go on your permanent record.
“It will effect your academic record because right now you can’t drop anymore classes,” said Nohles. “If you get suspended now for a month to two months, it will take you to the end of the semester and you’ll receive a fail in the class.”
Parking has a toll
It’s 9:15 a.m. and you have exactly 20 minutes to park and get to class. Knowing that, you hurry into Pierce College’s parking lot to grab the first spot you see.
The lot is not only completely full, but there are so many other cars with the same goal.
You grab your Starbucks coffee from the cup holder and begin to sip it while brainstorming some late excuses.
“Parking is crazy here,” said Nohles. “For some reason [Lot 1] is the golden jewel of parking. There is other parking besides Lot 1.”
Nohles advises everyone to come as early as possible, especially for the first two to three weeks of school.
While the parking situation creates frenzies among the students, parking tickets are distributed all the time.
The department writes between 100 and 150 tickets per week.
According to Nohles, the moral of the story is to control your emotions and do not get into petty arguments over a parking spot.
They are the champions
A red trophy with a large gold football attached sits on the counter behind the glass wall at the sheriff’s station.
As you walk into the station it’s one of the first things you see, that, and the fundraiser candy that is for sale.
“We are the two year’s running champions of the intramural football game,” said Nohles.
The nine sheriff departments that are a part of the Los Angeles Community College district get together to play some quality intramural sports.
“Every college is out biggest rival,” said Deputy Guerrero.
Sixteen deputies participate on the team including both men and women, according to Nohles.
“We also have a basketball tournament once a year,” said Nohles. “Everyone participates.”
After giving out numerous amounts of traffic citations and dealing with dozens of phone calls, deputies just want to have fun too.
Deputy Sheriff Ron Nohles responds to a call on the campus of Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. Most calls involve smoking on campus. (Chris Audish)
