Nearby Police Stand-off Raises Safety Concerns
By Conor O'Rourke
News Associate

Parents of Claremont College students arriving Thursday for family weekend were met with an unlikely surprise, which may cause added anxiety about sending their children away to school .

The reputation of Claremont as a quiet, safe community was seriously jeopardized that afternoon during a three-hour standoff involving 50 police personnel and James Thomas Babakitis, 37. Babakitis had been eluding police forces all day after trying to run over a deputy sheriff during a routine traffic stop on Wednesday, February 12.

Babakitis had been convicted of two prior narcotics charges, and was in danger of suffering the severe consequences for a third offense under California's Three Strike System.

On Thursday afternoon Claremont Police were contacted by a city resident reporting a strange man who had asked to use her garage to store his car. Police staked out the house until the suspect returned to the scene and was picked up in a white van. The van was followed to the Claremont School of Theology main parking lot, located off Foothill Blvd.

When Babakitis refused to leave the van, CPD requested the assistance of a Sheriff's Department Special Weapons Team. College buildings and businesses along Foothill Boulevard, between Indian Hill and Dartmouth Avenues, were evacuated until Babakitis eventually surrendered sometime after 6 p.m. He is being charged with a violation of parole, resisting arrest, and assault with a deadly weapon.

The potential for the incident to spill over onto the campuses forced Campus Safety to activate their emergency response system, a campus-wide notification alert that is employed no more than a few times each year. According to Dean of Students Ann Quinley, the incident on Thursday was the most serious she's heard of during her time here, yet expresses no additional concern over further safety hazards of this sort. "I don't see this as a trend or anything more than you'd expect in a small town."

Surprisingly, parents were either unaware of the standoff or unafraid, since Dean Quinley reported fielding no questions from parents over the weekend regarding safety on campus. "Really, most of the crime that happens is committed by our own students," she added.

Quinley cited vandalism and theft of college property as two very popular crimes. Bike theft remains rampant on campuses nationwide, but according to Quinley, such theft at Pomona is usually committed by persons unaffiliated with the college. When asked to recall any more serious violations in recent memory, Quinley related an incident two years ago in which a student reported seeing a man carrying a weapon near the Smith Campus Center. However, the man was merely a workman with a caulk gun.

Students generally express little concern as well. "I view Claremont as a pretty safe place. I've never felt threatened here," says Quinn Hawkins'03. Part of this feeling of safety has come about during President Peter Stanley's term here. Troubled by the lack of good lighting on campus, Stanley added several more lampposts and brought light to many areas previously shrouded in darkness.

He also made the switch from standard red emergency phones to the well-known blue light phones that are said to be viewable from all areas of campus. The lighted phones were inspired several years ago when a student with a sprained ankle unknowingly limped past six different non-descript emergency phones in order to reach help.

Nevertheless these phones are used more often for social reasons than emergencies. "Who am I supposed to be afraid of?" says Lauren Salvail '03. According to Sgt. Mark Smith of Campus Safety, students like Salvail should exercise a little more caution during this time of potential war. "We [Campus Safety] are trying to pay more attention to detail. The campuses could be a potential target to terrorists," said Smith. "Students are usually good about being cautious but I urge them to be more aware."

The five campuses are patrolled at all times by three Campus Security officers, with several more on reserve who can be made available in minutes. They have increased their patrol of certain areas on the campus, but beyond that have undergone no serious changes in protocol in light of either the heightened alert or Thursday's incident.

Quinley agrees that no additional security measures are needed. "The only thing I can see for improvement would be to add more electronic door locks to the residence halls." She admits that this is only a small step meant to prevent theft, if anything. "Students are pretty much invulnerable if they lock their doors," said Quinley.