There is a singular question that every inebriated student or student on a Dunkin’ Donuts run in the dead of winter asks themselves as they pass the security booth: what function does the booth actually serve?
Well, I decided to become an unofficial security officer for the night and find out what security actually did in the wee hours of the morning, and because I came during the rotating of shifts, I was able to meet two security officers, both of whom wished to remain anonymous throughout this article.
As I was walking to the security booth at 2:00 am on Sunday morning, I could not help but wonder what I was going to do in that booth for the next hour (For the record, that is almost the length of the shift that a Fairfield security officer serves). Would I just sit there in a state of exhausted boredom or would there be some action, meaning drunken students, for me to witness?
So my official check-in time for my “officer shadow” was at 2:23 a.m. I was introduced to a very amiable security officer and I became more at ease. It was made abundantly clear that this officer was definitely not a “ball buster” as some would categorize security on this campus. She was just doing her job, and I swear to you, she never sat down once. Apparently, 2:00 a.m. is a hot time to be coming back to campus.
“People try to blow the checkpoint all the time,” she said. “They usually don’t see the stop sign, but it’s usually first time visitors, non-students.”
According to this officer, the worst time to be put on checkpoint duty is in the summer. “No one’s here,” she said. “If you get one car, that’s a busy night.”
Basically, the function of the checkpoint is to protect Fairfield students from unwanted visitors, you know, stalkers, criminals, low-life types that just have no business being on campus in the first place. Any student whose car enters campus after 11:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. will be “waved” through the checkpoint if they have the proper identification on the lower left-hand corner of their windshield. Yes, security does check and make sure that the sticker is on the window. For those without a sticker or in a cab, a Fairfield ID card is required for access to the campus.
During my time spent with “Officer 1,” there were mostly cabs. When she did see one girl laying down in the back seat, she radioed into security to make sure that she was walking when she got out of the cab. Security is definitely observant despite what students may think. Both officers stopped cars carrying too many people. Sure, it’s a pain to get out and walk, especially when you’re trying to act sober in front of security, but this is all for a good reason. Safety people! They actually warned the students, saying that the penalty for overcrowding, besides the obvious risk of injury, is getting pulled over by a Fairfield cop. Security here is definitely just looking out for the students.
At around 3:00 a.m., I met a second security officer, and he offered his own insight into the world of checkpoint duty.
“The checkpoint is in a good place,” said my second security officer. “We can stop people who aren’t supposed to be here. It allows us to observe who’s coming in and what’s going on. We can stop problems before they come on campus.”
Guests are a tricky situation. If they do not have identification, or a guest pass, they must state the Fairfield student’s name whom they are visiting, and provide the year and place of residence. Checkpoint security then radios to Loyola security to verify the student and residence. The visitor’s car and identification is checked and copied as a precaution. According to one security officer, the reason that they do not choose to call students when a guest is on campus is because cars come through the checkpoint at all hours of the night.
“The checkpoint is a window we have. A deterrent,” said one officer. “It’s also good for me because I can interact with students. Sometimes they’ll stop and talk.”
The moral of this story is that everything on this campus, bizarre or not, has a purpose. Security is definitely not the Big Bad Wolf that students’ think they are. We should just think of them as the Big Brother of Fairfield, here to serve and protect, despite all of those seemingly unnecessary parking tickets.
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