Trading a desk job for firearms

Sheriffs deputy Jeanine Swanson leaves Pierce to train new officers

Beatrice Negulescu / Roundup

Dreams really do come true, according to Jeanine Swanson, Pierce College Sheriff.

Oct. 22 marked Swanson’s last day as a Pierce College Sheriff.

Swanson, who has been at Pierce since August 2004, plans to start a new job training officers on how to shoot and use firearms, which she describes as “kind of like a dream come true.”

As a college sheriff at Pierce, Swanson spent most of her day dealing with paperwork, attending meetings, and carrying out administrative duties. She is really looking forward to a more hands on job and especially working with firearms, which is something she has always liked.

As for the position she is leaving behind at Pierce Swanson said it has “taught [her] how to be a supervisor,” and given her a whole new appreciation of what is considered a supervisor.

Swanson said that she has had the chance to watch other supervisors which has given her the chance to pick and choose what methods she wants to use herself.

In her time here, Swanson has overseen many projects that have helped make the Pierce campus a safer place. Some of these projects include putting up security cameras in most areas and tightening security in the bookstore.

When asked if the number of offenses has risen or declined in her time here Swanson answered that “it pretty much stayed the same.” According to Swanson the highest offenses on campus are crimes of opportunity such as theft and vandalism.

Other crimes that Swanson has dealt with include vehicle break-ins and even a few grand theft autos.

One incident that especially sticks out in Swanson’s mind is when someone was robbed at gunpoint about 2 years ago. Besides this incident she does not note any citations or arrests being made for possession of guns on campus.

When asked if there are any known gang members on campus Swanson answered “we know there are gang members at Pierce,” but she hasn’t experienced any real problems occurring with gangs.

Swanson instead attributes the difficulties in keeping the campus safe to the major increase in the student body. When she first started at Pierce there were “about 17,000 students per semester, and now there are about 23,000.”

Swanson confirms that Pierce is still a safe enough campus even with the population increase, and her only suggestion for improvement is to increase staffing. Swanson said that while other colleges have two sheriff’s deputies per shift, Pierce has only one sheriff deputy during night shift and herself as the daytime sheriff deputy.

Now that Swanson’s time at Pierce is over Deputy Alfred Guerrero, Swanson’s partner for the last three years, said that he is “sad to see her go but happy at the same time because she is going to further her career.”