Sitting in a patrol car parked in the lot between Anderson Family Field and Goodwin Field, Officer Autumn Hollyfield was training officer Kenny Potts while keeping a watchful eye on a CSUF campus in transition.
Typically, University Police officers are protecting and serving a campus that, at any given time, can have thousands of students, faculty, and staff attending classes and doing the business of the university.
Today, the campus is silent, students and faculty are online, the staff is working from home, and the parking lots are empty as the university takes unprecedented measures to react to the global novel coronavirus pandemic.
But for Hollyfield, a 10-year veteran of the department this June, it’s business as usual.
“We are here whether there’s, 45,000 to 50,000 students, faculty and staff, or there’s not,” the former Titan women’s basketball player said. “At the end of the day, there’s somebody here. I don’t care where you turn, there’s always somebody here. So, our job continues.”
And, yes, she was a star player back in 1993 and held a record for the most 3-pointers in a game. She has game!
Hollyfield, like her fellow officers, has gone through thousands of hours of training for an array of situations she is adapting that training to this unique situation. At full strength, the department has 25 sworn officers, 16 staff members, and 55 student assistants working as community service officers.
“We go through those types of training, but I think a lot of times something like this evolves for everybody as it does and we just try to make everybody feel secure,” she said. “Our job is to remain calm and to help the masses get through this period.”
Michael Mahi, Senior Director of Digital Media, is looking for stories from our campus community about being a witness to history. Contact him at mimahi@fullerton.edu.
