People of Eastern: A one-on-one conversation with Eastern community officer Sandy Smith

By: Christian Lengkeek

Sandy Smith is new to the security team at Eastern. Many of you probably recognize her by her bike; it’s the black bike with the very large tires. I wanted to get to know her better than just, “the new lady who rides a bike with large tires,” so we sat down for a brief interview in Walton.

“What does your job entail?” I asked.

“I work here as a community resource officer, which is a new position that they have not had recently,” Smith responded. “Just trying to make security more visible and more approachable.

“I have retired from police work, and I was a police officer for thirty years,” she continued. “I was a detective in Chester county, in the Exton area, and I worked with the FBI. I was on the task force for about ten years. I am still employed by my police department, but they task force me out to help them with different things.” 

With all of the talk of police and FBI work, I had to ask her if Eastern was anywhere near her previous work experience and if our campus was safe.

“I haven’t come across any serious security issues, and coming from police work, this is a very safe environment. It’s a great retirement job. They bought me an E-bike and I get to ride around a lot. Traditionally it’s a necessary evil type of job, but we are trying to change that. I wear a separate uniform so that I don’t look as strict and unapproachable. We’re just trying to make it look more friendly.” 

But hold up, let’s talk about that E-bike with its big tires, because it certainly makes an impression.

“So I was doing research on electric bikes, and a lot of them are lightweight street bikes, and I think here, because of some of the trails and the pathways, I wanted something more sturdy that would go on them,” Smith said. “I have never ridden an E-bike before and whoa, it’s fast. Like I better take my time on it! I have been riding it for a month and have around 170 miles on it. It’s a lot of fun. I might have to buy myself one.” 

At this point I had to add that conversation was very easy with her personable answers and her great sense of humor. It was a great conversation, and I almost forgot I was interviewing her. At the close of our discussion, I asked her if there was anything she wanted Eastern students to know.

“Just that we are all not bad guys,” Smith said. “Our security team is all approachable. We are there to help everybody on campus. And if you see any one of us, stop and say hi. And hopefully, we can get to know you. The more people we get to know, the easier the job is.”

And so next time you see Sandy Smith riding around campus on her big E-bike, be sure to give a wave and stop to say hello!