The College of the Canyons governing board reviewed a presentation on campus safety last week and briefly discussed the response to recent invasion-of-privacy incidents.
There have been three incidents that date back to April 2024, said Reinhardt Schuerger, interim campus safety director. The other two reported incidents were reported in October 2024 and March 2025.
In each case, a suspect used a phone and appeared to be recording video of people from an adjacent bathroom stall, added Schuerger. All three incidents were being looked into by COC’s campus safety office but only the October and March incidents were reported to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
In response to the incidents, Schuerger said the campus safety office has been working with the Sheriff’s Department to try to identify the suspect. The public information office and campus safety office put out campus alert sheets in the restrooms and are asking for anyone who has information or sees anything suspicious to call their office. The Sheriff’s Department also put out a special bulletin to help with the investigation.
“The sheriffs are actively pursuing it, and that’s all I can say on that case, but there’s a criminal investigation,” said Schuerger.
Board member Edel Alonso thanked Schuerger and his team for how they have been handling the incidents. She said she thought they handled it quickly and it was great to be working together with the Sheriff’s Department.
There are nine safety officers, seven short-term officers, and three campus escorts who make up the campus safety team, said Schuerger. There are currently five vacancies, and he said they have four candidates they will be presenting for hire in the near future.
Schuerger said the key responsibility of the safety officers is to patrol and secure district facilities; provide students, employees and community members assistance; conduct investigations; parking enforcement and traffic control; if need be, provide crowd control and respond to emergencies.
“One of the things we do in all of these things is we’re striving just to be an integral part of the whole campus community,” he said.
In the presentation, Schuerger went over the school’s 2021-2023 Clery Act data. He said it was an annual security report that is filed every October for the previous year and is sent to the Department of Education and is sent out to the campus community by email.
The Clery Act requires the school to list every crime in 10 categories: murder, sex offense, aggravated assault, robbery, vehicle theft, arson, liquor law arrests or violations, drug law arrests or violations, weapon possession arrests or violations, dating violence or stalking.
The crimes reported either occurred on campus, in certain off-campus buildings and facilities, and on some public property within the campus community or campus facilities, said Schuerger.
At the Canyon Country campus, there was one motor vehicle theft in 2023. At the Valencia campus there was one aggravated assault, two burglaries, two stalking incidents, one drug arrest, one liquor arrest, one weapons possession, and four motor vehicle thefts.
Schuerger said in 2024 there were two Clery reports, both of them being dating violence incidents. In 2025 so far there were two Clery reports, one being a burglary incident and the other a stolen vehicle. He noted that there are other incidents that happen on campus, and they are reported on, but didn’t fall into the Clery categories.
Schuerger also spoke about how the camera systems have been helpful to monitoring the campuses. There are 59 interior cameras and 187 exterior cameras at the Valencia campus, 21 interior and 86 exterior cameras on the Canyon Country campus, and they are looking to add 20 more interior cameras and nine exterior cameras across the campuses.
In an effort to stay connected with the campus community, the campus safety office provides safety information during all new employee orientations, holds a meet and greet called, “Sip with Safety” each quarter, and helps bring attention to the non-credit self-defense class and safety workshops offered on campus.
