New Parking Passes to Help Deter Automobile Vandalism

Switching from Columbia blue parking passes with Lancer logos and class details to generic numbers-only stickers was a change the administration decided would increase student safety. Rumors had spread of students whose cars had been vandalized due to their school parking passes. While no hard evidence can be brought up to prove the motives behind such acts of vandalism, most are assumed to be the result of theft or school rivalries.
“You want to be safety conscious,” SRO Officer Pacheco said.

According to Dr. Krawitz, the intensity of school rivalries and of the acts fused by them has decreased over the years, vandalism against rival schools still occurs.

Dr. Krawitz recalls two years ago, students from South came onto East property and were found filling Lancer’s car locks with wax, which is nearly impossible to get out.

“That’s the kind of meanness that doesn’t need to exist,” Dr. Krawitz said.

As principal, Dr. Krawitz wants Lancers to be proud to sport their school colors, wherever they may be, without feeling at risk. Even though, both he and Pacheco know firsthand how out-of-hand rivalries can get.

Dr. Krawitz remembers an incident when he taught at Olathe where kids were filling fuel tanks of student’s cars with sand. Vandalism and property destruction is where Dr. Krawitz draws the line.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate a healthy prank now and then. One prank in particular, Krawtiz described, was last year, when a group of east seniors entered South properties and rearranged the stones that spelled out “SMS.” When he got the call from the South principal informing him of the prank, they laughed together about it.

“There is nothing wrong with a good healthy rivalry back and forth with people as long as it’s never at the expense of any one person,” Dr. Krawitz said. “And I think that can exist.”

In his perfect world strictly friendly rivalries would be the only kind. However, in reality, Dr. Krawitz is aware that there are always people who feel they are doing a service to their schools by damaging rival property. Not only do the new precautions protect Lancer cars, but they also protect the students.

From a security point of view Pacheco, says that having a sticker on a car identifying the driver to a school and grade could be an invitation to make them a potential target while off campus. Since the parking passes are solid colors, the colors will change every year and won’t remain in the East color scheme like they happen to be now.

“It’s less likely for someone to be able to look at you, outside of campus and be able to automatically determine, “This person is a Lancer, they go to East, looks like they are a junior.” Pacheco said.

While there have been no reports of anyone being followed by someone because of their Lancer parking pass, Pacheco says we aren’t always conscious of who may be following us while we are out in public. He explains that if there is no need for in the extra information and serve no purpose while cars are on campus then it doesn’t make sense for it to be included on the sticker and broad casted to the world, putting students at risk. When a group of students came up to Pacheco last year and asked about the switch to generic parking passes for safety reason Pacheco say no reason not to comply.

Unlike the mandatory school parking passes many cars bear East decals which also identify students with their high school while they are off campus. Students, however, have a choice of whether or not they want to have East logos on their cars so the administration doesn’t weigh in.

Officer Pacheco sees no problem with students showing their school pride through these decorative stickers. Dr Krawitz, on the other hand, is happy to see his Lancer’s supported in anyway but is cautious to have that information displayed on a car for the same reason as the parking passes.

 “It used to be where if you put decals on people respected that. Unfortunately in today’s world it’s not taken that way. You only become an invitation to becoming a target.” Dr. Krawitz said. “Which is a real shame.”