New Lead Security Officer Brings Knowledge, Experience

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

January 1 saw a new face in an important position at Hacienda. Katie Mitchell became Hacienda's new lead security officer. As the person in charge of park security, Katie brings excellent experience and skills fronted by a warm, personable demeanor.

Katie is enjoying all the aspects of her new position at Hacienda. Among her major responsibilities are supervising four officers who patrol the entire park, providing officer training and scheduling, compiling reports, and meeting and working with park property managers and key personnel, as well as representatives of the Pleasanton fire and police departments.

Katie began her security career with Barton Protective Services as a grounds officer, and within a year was promoted to the security division of CarrAmerica Conference Center here in Hacienda where she handled many important responsibilities.

Moving rapidly down her career path, she took on more responsibility at a larger business venue when offered a position at Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

There, she was on the front lines of building life safety and security for a high-rise development. She became an expert in daily security and emergency evacuation procedures where building and employee safety are top priorities. She also worked closely with the San Francisco fire and police departments on preparations for unexpected emergencies or crises.

Her skills and professionalism continued to be noticed. Having completed extensive training and garnering valuable experience with Boston Properties, she was recruited by ProTech Protective Services for work in Hacienda.

Katie's warmth and friendliness are born of an authentic desire to be helpful and of service to others, whether on the job, in the community, or in her family. In addition, throughout her life, Katie has always gravitated toward education. She is highly self-motivated and takes great satisfaction in learning.

Katie attributes a great deal of her professionalism - the ability to work well with people and her desire to help and support others in her working environment - to her upbringing in a close, loving family. She says that her parents provided a strong family atmosphere for their six children. "One of the most important things my dad taught all of us is to always be grateful for what we have and who we are."

Her family is very important to her. Katie and her husband Steven, who live in Livermore, were close childhood friends, having met when she was 14 and he was 16. She is the proud mother of four grown children, one of whom is an Oakland police officer, and grandmother of two - with one more on the way.

She says that each place she's worked has provided the opportunity to develop valuable skills about security. "I've put all that information and training together and now I have the best of everything: working here."

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