Key card access may hit campus

Contra Costa College is undergoing the first steps of changing its security system as more card key locks will be installed under a new manufacturer.

CCC’s current security system comes from Schlage Lock Company. Because the Contra Costa Community College District will be changing to a new system from Software House, the district wants Contra Costa, Diablo Valley and Los Medanos colleges to be uniform, CCC Police Services Lt. Jose Oliveira said.

“The locks will be installed to the exterior doors of all of the buildings on campus,” Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said.

There are currently eight buildings with the Schlage Lock system on campus – the Applied Arts, Liberal Arts, Music, Biological Sciences buildings, as well as the Automotive Technology, Computer Technology, Library and Learning Resource, and Student Services centers.

“The benefit of (changing the system to) Software House is its future capability,” Oliveira said. “It (will give the college) the ability to install cameras and lock down buildings from a single computer.”

Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division Dean Terence Elliott said he likes the prospect of having an installation with control.

“The card keys would track who comes in and out, so that sounds like it would make (the security) better,” Elliott said.

The feature to install cameras and the capability of being able to lock down buildings from a computer, however, will not be available as soon as the upgrades are made. Oliveira also expressed interest in switching over to key cards.

“It will be easier just to have key cards to open everything instead of having to carry around keys, which can be lost,” Oliveira said.

Oliveira said a Diablo Valley College maintenance worker had his truck stolen a few years ago.

Inside, the truck contained the master keys and a detailed journal of which key opened each building on the campus. Oliveira said DVC ended up spending an estimated $50,000 to change all the locks and keys on campus.