Pittsburg native and Los Medanos College Lieutenant Chad Wehrmeister may be a new face to some LMC attendees, but he isn’t new to the campus in the slightest. Prior to his last five years at Diablo Valley College, Wehrmeister served as LMC’s police Lieutenant and has now “returned home.”

Over the summer he and former LMC Lieutenant Ryan Huddleston were reassigned, resulting in Huddleston going to DVC. But according to district police chief Ed Carney these reassignments happen quiet frequently.

“As a district we are consistently reassessing our resources. It is common for police services to reassign command staff to keep them familiar with all college campuses,” said Carney. “In this case, I felt it would benefit both LMC and DVC to reassign the supervisors.”

According to Carney, officers are able to relocate two times per year in January and July. He explains that the command staff, which includes all police services supervisors, help with the reassignment process but in the end the reassignments are ultimately his call and it’s for the benefit of the department and individual colleges within the district.

Carney’s decision ended up being pleasant change for Wehrmeister given his Pittsburg roots.

“I just love this community. I grew up in Pittsburg, I still live in Pittsburg, this is where I’m from,” said Wehrmeister. “It’s extra special for me to work and live in my community, and I’m kind of lucky that way.”

For about 21 years, Wehrmeister has been apart of CCCCD’s police department and explains that a goal of his is to continue the integration of police services in student services.

“We talk about having a safe campus and having a safe learning environment but it’s all about student success,” said Wehrmeister. “Chancellor Benjamin has said that many times, at the end of the day we have to remember that the reason we are here is for the students.”

Wehrmeister continued, saying that the district police department has had a recent reemphasis on community policing and emergency preparedness.

“We’re currently restarting our bicycle program, where police are on bicycles because we want to be inside the campus, more approachable so little things we want to keep improving on,” said Wehrmeister.

He continued, “Policing has changed quite a bit in 20 something years. Many years ago, and this is not just college policing, but in general we had more of a focus on the external world outside of campus buildings. Now we are transitioning to being a part of the community inside the buildings and offices.”

Emphasizing these programs and focusing on community policing come with the shifts for police. Wehrmeister explains that is that the department is truly a district function and that one of their strengths is being versatile due to every campus being unique and having their own characteristics and quirks.

LMC Senior Traffic Officer Michael Hotton would agree saying that community policing has been one of Wehrmeister main focuses that came with his return to the campus.

“We were already out a lot and involved in a lot of different areas of the college but he wanted to heighten that and bring us to the next level,” said Hotton.

“Being able to connect with our students and faculty members and being much more ingrained in the college community itself, which I think is a fundamental point in policing –– serving our public and being visible and being approachable and just being out there.”