LCHS, City Comprise His Beat

La Cañada High School has a new student resource officer: Deputy Todd Sams took over the role previously handled by Deputy Chris Deacon, who had been at the school for three years. Sams has been with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station for seven years and with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1995.

Before becoming the SRO at LCHS, Sams could be seen patrolling La Cañada and Crescenta Valley streets. He knows the area very well but wanted a more focused assignment, which is what he has with LCHS. His duties not only include being available at the school but also as the La Cañada special assignment deputy. He reports once a month to the City Council on crime statistics, where the city is having problems and where they are succeeding as well as getting the word out that he is the city’s liaison to the station.

“I like it,” Sams said. “It is a little more focused than patrol. I also do liaison with the city so it gives me an opportunity to be focused on what is going on here.”

He admits that the high school is relatively quiet, however there are things he has noticed around the city that he wants to keep an eye on.

“Tagging is not as prevalent as in other areas but it is still here,” he said.

Tagging is a form of graffiti that has been found throughout La Cañada. Although the school has not reported tagging issues, Sams wants to keep on top of the situation so it does not become a real problem. He said that with this new assignment he would have more time to concentrate on specific areas such as tagging.

“My main purpose is to be a presence,” Sams said, “to let students know that law enforcement is here when they need us.”

Although the school is safe, Sams is concerned about others coming into the area. He is always keeping a watchful eye on Hahamongna (formerly Oak Grove) Park across the street from LCHS. Because of its location directly off the freeway, many people from outside La Cañada come to the park, he noted. Sams wants to make certain those visitors stay in the park and don’t wander onto school campus.

“School should be a place where kids feel safe,” he said.

LCHS is lucky not to have the problems that many schools deal with like violence and drugs but that does not mean that these problems do not exist for students, Sams said.

“They are teenagers,” he said.

Sams said he understands the pressures that students face on a daily basis in respect to earning grades, worrying about their college or university future and just being a teenager. He is not naïve about the fact that drugs and drinking can affect all students everywhere. In his time at the school, he said, he has not seen an increase in drug use or drinking. However his background as a patrol deputy does make him more aware of signs to watch for and he said he wants to be proactive in the safeguarding students.

His goal is to get to know the students so they are used to seeing him around and know they can come to him with any problem.

“If they saw something that they know was wrong or if they have had something stolen they can talk to me,” Sams said.

Students can speak to him openly or anonymously.

“And if they don’t want to talk to me — sometimes it is difficult to talk to [law enforcement] — they can always go to a teacher or administrator and they will [relay] it to me,” Sams said.

Sams can be reached at the school at 952-4200 or at the C.V. Sheriff’s Station, 248-3464.