Behind the polar fleece pullover, there’s always a story.

Public Safety Officer Mike Lane holds out his hand and shows me a faint scar on his finger. He obtained the injury breaking up a dog fight years ago, and it’s the reason he doesn’t play bluegrass music anymore.

“Now I can’t do the chords,” says Lane.

Lane is only one of three P-Safe officers to leave Guilford this semester.

After nearly four years at Guilford, Lane made the decision to leave and devote more time to his photography business — his true passion.

In addition to Lane departing, Officer Juanita Eanes left a few weeks ago, and Officer Bernard MacSeoin wrapped up his Guilford career last Saturday.

MacSeoin had worked at Guilford for just over five years. He came to the College when his son, Nick, began  attending as a student. The family moved from St. Louis, and before that, they lived in England for 25 years while Bernard was in the U.S. Air Force.

“My emphasis was on establishing a rapport with the student body … perhaps I wish I had had more time to do just that,” said MacSeoin.

For his next move, MacSeoin plans to join the housekeeping staff at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with the intention of getting a position as a security guard in the campus art gallery when one is available.

“If anybody remembers me, I hope they remember me as someone who could be trusted,” said MacSeoin.

Many Guilford community members want to know why three officers are leaving in such a short period of time.

“There was no grand design or conspiracy or anything like that,” said MacSeoin.

“Our job isn’t as tied to semesters,” said Ron Stowe, director of public safety, although he admits that three officers leaving in such a short time frame is “extremely unusual.”

Stowe shared some behind-the-scenes insights into how P-Safe operates.

There are seven full-time and three part-time positions available. There is no set policy about how many officers must be on duty at once. For safety reasons, Stowe did not disclose further information regarding how many officers are on campus at a given time.

The open position is currently advertised at $11.00 an hour. The highest-paid officer makes about $15.00 an hour. Because of the tight budget, there have been no raises in two to three years. There are currently three officers on staff who have been here for eight years or longer.

With three officers down, Public Safety is working to hire more officers.

“We are interviewing candidates now,” said Stowe, although he is reluctant to establish a specific time frame.

“We plan to proceed promptly,” he said.