Despite some of the negative stereotypes that college students might have about police officers, there is more behind the badge than just giving out parking tickets. University police officers, like Sergeant Kenneth Schmidtling, are very involved with helping students and keeping the campus safe. University police do not just handle matters on campus grounds either. “Our primary mission is with the safety of the university, the staff, visitors, students etc. If students have our number, even if close to campus and something happens, you can call us,” Schmidtling said. “I have gone to Woodlawn Lake when a student locked their keys in her car.”

Schmidtling, also known as Officer Kenny and Sergeant Ken, has been working at St. Mary’s University for four years now and is the University Police Department’s supervisor. He also sits on the interview board for hiring new officers. Schmidtling lived in Michigan until he was 19-years-old and decided to join the Army where he was an Infantry Sergeant for eight years. It was not until his tour with the Army ended in 1989 that he came here to San Antonio. For the last 17 years, Schmidtling has been working as a police officer in various institutional environments.

Although many students only see the officers here and there around campus, they are not always aware about other responsibilities that these police officers have. Sergeant Ken, for example, is an instructor for much of the officer training. He is the R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) instructor and also is the one in charge of training new officers in the program. As a R.A.D. instructor, Schmidtling said that he would like to see more students take the class, and hopes that our University would offer it as a course one day. “The objective of the R.A.D. Program is to really develop and enhance a woman’s natural desire to resist aggression by giving her options of physical resistance, if she chooses to utilize physical resistance,“ Schmidtling said. “But at the foundation of the program is really in terms of personal empowerment. What we try to do in the program is to tell women that self-defense begins with self-respect and self-empowerment. And so that is 90 percent of your self-defense comes before you even have to be in a physical confrontation.”

He also instructs fire arms training, police training and Active Shooter Training. Although Schmidtling has been through Active Shooter Training, he has only been teaching it for a year. During March 15 to March 18, all the university officers will be required to participate in the training. They will train along with those in the Edgewood district and the San Antonio Police Department. Schmidtling explained that Active Shooter Training become a part of the police after the 1999 Columbine shooting. With active shooter training, police can take charge to stop an incident as soon as they can.

“God forbid anything happens here, but if it does we will be prepared,” Schmidtling said. Schmidtling advises students to “tell the truth when dealing with the police” and to “always pay attention to their surroundings and trust their gut feeling because it is almost always correct.” >“When people ask what makes a good officer I always reply that the definition of a good cop is ‘doing the right thing’’’ Schmidtling said.