Picture this: It's a Monday morning. You are walking to your class, only to realize that you are walking into a pool of chaos.

A supposed shooter has been identified on campus and the security office has deemed a lockdown. The problem with this is that no faculty or staff members have instructions to give to each other or their students - an emergency preparedness plan was never formed, leaving everyone confused.

The good news is that Jene Ladke, the new campus health, safety and security director is making it so that if this hypothetical situation arises, we won't be unprepared here at EvCC.

"There's a friendly atmosphere at this campus. But we are growing, so some things that don't happen now might in five years. We need to prepare. We can't wait for something to happen; we have to be ahead of the curve," Jene Ladke said.

With the experience of over 30 years in public service, Ladke feels worthy of his position. He worked for the Bellevue Police Department for 26 years, the Seattle Police Department as a dispatcher and with the Bellevue School District, working with security management.

"I'm a very good fit because what is important to me is safety. I have the passion and the experience. In anything I do I'm looking for improvement. I look at what I bring to the table. I can't stress enough how good my coworkers are," Ladke said. "We do things [security management] because it's the right thing to do. We want to be able to respond to emergencies and reduce injuries."

It seems as though his coworkers agree. "It is a great pleasure to have our new director of Campus Safety Jene Ladke onboard. Jene brings a wealth of information, experience, and wisdom to the position. Jene is passionate about providing the best quality of Public Safety to Everett Community College, and deeply cares about the campus community," Marc Tolle said.

While safety and security has been a large part of Ladke's life for numerous years, he makes time for boating and working around the house.

"I have three cats. I guess you could say I like cats," Ladke said.

Ladke doesn't want to change most security systems the college has in place, as he considers them efficient. His main goal is to improve and create plans incase of emergencies.

"I want students to feel safe on campus and realize that if something were to happen, they would be ok," Ladke said.