Arrest at Center of Media and Design Calls Campus Safety into Question

SMC Police notify community of an incident that took place on the CMD campus, calling into question student safety at satellite campuses.

On Monday morning, Santa Monica College (SMC) students received an email from SMC Chief of Police Johnnie Adams detailing an incident that took place on the Center of Media and Design (CMD) campus.

According to the email, the altercation occurred on March 17 at 7:26 p.m., when 39-year-old Fred Hudson, an unhoused man, wandered into the CMD Design Wing.

“Mr. Hudson walked into room 132 which was unoccupied at that time. A couple of minutes later, two SMC Interaction Design (IXD) students returned to room 132 and observed that Mr. Hudson was in the room, moving items around,” the statement read. “The students entered the room and Mr. Hudson produced what appeared at the time to be a handgun and placed it as well as a pistol magazine on a desk in front of the students. Throughout this interaction, Mr. Hudson did not make any verbal threats.”

Chief Adams explained the two IXD students contacted the SMC Police using the blue light phone located in the center of the campus. The police arrived within three minutes and began an investigation into the incident.

They later discovered the handgun to be an airsoft pistol, a replica toy gun that fires plastic projectiles using air pressure.

Hudson was then taken into custody for misdemeanor possession of an imitation firearm and sent to the Santa Monica Police Department to be booked. Upon further investigation, it was found Hudson was wanted in Ventura County for a felony assault charge and will be extradited to face those charges as well.

“More than likely he will be in for a couple of years if he is convicted of these crimes,” Adams said.

Malachi Sapia, a digital media major at SMC, said he will be coming to the CMD campus during later hours as he begins working on finals, and shared his worries about safety at the CMD campus.

“I think that there should be more security here, at least a little bit more,” Sapia said. “I think that the main campus has a bunch of police stations and I know we have a police car in the garage.”

An assessment is currently underway to look into various options to enforce safety and expand security around the CMD campus, as well as other SMC campuses.

“We are looking to do this at other satellite campuses as well,” Adams said. “But we are starting with the CMD, and will move on to Emeritus and Bundy.”

A current option being considered at the CMD campus includes creating a substation where the bookstore is currently located at the entrance of the Design Wing. Officers would be stationed at this location and provide safety materials to students, as well as teach them more about safety resources such as the LiveSafe app.

“We are looking to convert it to a community outreach program where we can have people who are not actually patrolling, but who can be there to provide information,” Adams said.

According to Adams, SMC Police will work with Maintenance and Auxiliary services “to transition the room for dual services.”

Sapia felt more officers should be stationed around campus, even in the later hours, to ensure the safety of students working on projects after hours.

“You would think the police would kind of step up and do something here, at least a little bit more,” Sapia said. “For that to have been unlocked and for someone to just walk in and hang out there is dangerous for us.”

Students can contact the SMC police at 310-434-4000. The LiveSafe app is also a “discreet, convenient, and quick way” to contact the SMC Police.