By Elaine Bonilla se news editor
TCC police provide safety and assistance for anyone on campus. Besides issuing citations, they can help with emergencies and car trouble.
To help ensure safety, the district installed emergency blue phones. The phones are scattered across the different campuses and have a red screen that needs a light touch when police are needed. Once the screen is touched, a dispatch officer immediately sends an officer to the site since the blue phone calls are a priority.
“Students shouldn’t hesitate to use the phones, especially if they need police assistance and calling 8911 isn’t an option,” assistant police chief Chanissa Dietrich said. “We would rather send an officer and they not be needed than not have one there when it is needed.”
The campus police, like any other police, write citations for speeding, parking in a fire lane, not displaying a parking permit and pull-through parking in the angled lots.
“I got a ticket once for speeding at SE. I was going 5 miles over the speed limit,” SE and South business major Boss Wiley said. “It’s good that they [campus police] are here to protect us in case something crazy happens.”
Students have until the end of the semester to pay the campus citations at business services. Otherwise, a hold will be placed on their account. For the municipal citations, the offenders must take the citation to the city in which it was issued. The cities for each campus are: Hurst for NE, Arlington for SE, and Fort Worth for South, NW and TR.
NE student Melissa Serna said she doesn’t think it’s fair that if students don’t pay their tickets, holds are placed on their records.
“It shouldn’t come down to a ticket affecting our [college] future,” she said.
All TCC students must display a parking permit on their rearview mirror to park in student parking. To obtain a parking permit, students must take a picture ID, class schedule and Colleague ID to the campus police office. The first permit is free, and replacements are $10, which must be paid at business services.
The new blue parking permits are good for two years and will replace the green permits, which expire Aug. 31. Students must renew parking permits to avoid paying the $5 permit replacement fee.
The permits allow students to park on all campuses except for the TR parking garage. Because of limited parking in the TR garage, students must show proof of enrollment at TR to receive a TR stamp on their permit. Otherwise, they must park in the TR overflow parking.
The campus police are also available for keys locked in cars, dead batteries and flat tires. When calling for assistance, students must tell the operator their campus and location.
“There are a lot of college students that have so much on their plate they sometimes leave a light on in their car and drain their battery or forget their keys in the car,” Wiley said. “It’s good to have that help around.”
