The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

    The campus that never sleeps: 11:00 p.m.

    “Now imagine yourself in a dark box,” CJL Security Guard Allen Mullins said, chuckling. “No, I’m joking. But really, the most activity you’ll see at night is probably some wildlife. We’ve got coyotes and big deer with the big ol’ antlers that hang out by the chapel sometimes.”

    Mullins said he does rounds throughout the night, listening for cars or rattling gates.

    “When you’ve been a police officer for a long time, nothings seems that weird,” he said. “Here it’s pretty low-key. Every once in a while you’ll get a transient that you have to run off.”

    There are usually one or two guards who stay overnight, but sometimes there is a greater need.

    “If the kids are planning on doing their senior prank or something like that, we’ll have a lot of guys,” he said.

    In between rounds and reading books online, Mullins studies for his criminal justice degree.

    “A bunch of us guys study,” he said. “I just went from the Marine Corps straight to the Sheriff’s Department. I never got my degree.”

    Joggers, who use the track on weekends and during school hours, also show up late at night.

    “There are a couple that I recognize, so I don’t bother them when I see them because I know what they’re doing,” Mullins said.

    The guards, who take overlapping night shifts every night of the week, don’t like to give out their exact hours.

    “We don’t want the kids to know when we’re here and when we’re not,” Mullins said, quickly adding, “but there is absolutely always someone here.”

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    The campus that never sleeps: 11:00 p.m.