At Sierra College there is a new lawman on campus – at least temporarily.

The unexpected departure of the campus police chief prompted college officials to sign a temporary contract with the Rocklin Police Department to provide campus security, but concerns about big-school violence at their once-rural campus already had prompted a push to increase campus security, officials said.

Now officials on the 15,000-student campus face a decision on whether to hire a new police chief and carry on with an unarmed force, hire new officers qualified to carry guns or sign a long-term agreement outsourcing campus security.

Senior campus officials are expected to discuss the matter today. Ultimately, campus President Leo Chavez will offer a recommendation for the community college's board to consider.

In the meantime, the college will pay the Rocklin Police Department $223,000 over the next four months for two Rocklin officers to walk the campus, taking crime and vehicle accident reports from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Other Rocklin officers will provide backup as needed, and a Rocklin sergeant will oversee campus security.

Before Sierra Police Chief Greg Murphy left the college – leaving the campus without any officers certified by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training – he was aided by two unarmed officers.

They will continue to handle parking enforcement, building security and other non-law enforcement duties.

"Four months gives us the ability to spend time examining what is best for the campus," said Sue Michaels, a campus spokeswoman.

In March, a 22-year-old Sierra College student was arrested for allegedly stabbing another man on the campus. Rocklin police responded to that attack, which took place on a walking path near Sewell Hall.

Ron Martinez, vice president for human resources, said the incident "only reinforced what we had already decided."

Shortly after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 students and faculty dead, Sierra College officials began upgrading campus security. And Martinez said they reckoned with the fact that things had changed since the Sierra College District Police Department was formed in 1992 to protect the then-rural campus.

Lonnie Schwenk, the longtime police chief, said he wasn't up for the job and was given a reassignment, Martinez said.

"He didn't feel comfortable taking the small, unarmed police department … into a modern police department," Martinez said.

Murphy was brought in, but as the state's budget crisis deepened, it became clear he wasn't going to get the manpower he thought he needed.

Murphy's plan called for training and testing that would qualify his two officers as state-certified police. He wanted to add more officers and a sergeant on the main campus and provide officers at satellite campuses near Lake Tahoe and in Nevada County. The plan would have cost the college close to $2.9 million over five to seven years.

Murphy said in the report that the campus' new 144-bed dormitory created the need for 24-hour coverage. He pointed out that security already was weakened when one of the officers was sick or on vacation.

"We faced the fact that we weren't going to be able to build that police force," Martinez said. "We couldn't get the resources to him to do the job he needed to do."

Sacramento's Los Rios Community College District armed its police force in 2006.

A districtwide force of 32 POST-certified officers protects the 90,000 students at the district's campuses.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.