Design Tech’s New Security Guard: David Stahler

Nora Stafford | nstafford26@dtechhs.org & Ro Wu | rwu26@dtechhs.org

Photo By David Stahler | dstahler@dtechhs.org

You may see him patrolling the lunch lines, lurking in the parking garage, making rounds around the bathrooms, or maybe just strolling around the hallways of d.tech. He doesn’t stay anywhere long and he’s difficult to get a hold of. Some have described it as “chasing after a fly.” The man, the myth, the legend, David Stahler is the newest addition to the Design Tech High School staff. But who is he?

Stahler grew up in the Bay Area and went to California State University, Chico, where he majored in literature. Stahler is married and a father to 3 kids, all in high school. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports, including soccer, basketball, tennis, and mountain biking. After graduating, one of his first jobs was working at Oracle as a technical writer, but he was inspired to join the police force after the attacks of 9/11. 

Stahler worked for the Redwood City Police Department beginning in 2002 and retired after 20 years in 2022. A notable moment from his career is when he returned a $800,000 Cartier necklace to famous tennis player Andre Agassi. He also worked in the Port of Redwood City, patrolling on a boat. While working as a detective, he found and returned stolen items such as jewelry. At that time, the process for returning stolen jewelry was to pass around pictures to different police stations. Thus it was difficult to find the property owners as the only people looking at the pictures were other police officers. So, he took the images and put them on a Pinterest page where anyone could view the items. Within a day, people were calling about items posted on the page that were stolen from them years ago. His idea was implemented in many other police departments nationwide, helping reunite stolen items with their owners.

After he retired as a police officer, Stahler continued to be an active member of the community. So when Oracle and d.tech were looking for a retired police officer to be the school security guard, he was recommended and hired. His official title as Security Manager means he works for both Oracle and d.tech, keeping the campus safe from people trying to come in and upping security procedures so that everyone is safe. In the mornings, you will find him in the parking garage, keeping things in order, and throughout the day, he patrols the campus. Although he is no longer in law enforcement, he can gather information and report it to the police, break up or de-escalate fights and disagreements, and ensure the campus is always safe and secure.

It is California law that if a student is caught smoking or with a smoking device, they are offered education as a first offense instead of punishment. One of his duties has been and will continue to be creating, implementing, and enforcing a Tobacco Prevention Program. This program would not only educate students but also provide training resources for staff members. Unlike public schools, Design Tech does not have a district-provided program. So, using information from Stanford Medicine, Stahler has been able to create prototypes that will eventually be implemented into d.tech regularly.

Aside from security, Stahler has long been working alongside schools. He was a school resource officer at Sequoia High School. While there, he started a pole vaulting program and worked as a coach.

If you were more curious about our new security guard, you might google his name, and if you did, a few articles about an arrest of a student he made while working as a School Resource Officer will show up. Being a former police officer with 20 years of experience, there is bound to be a controversial arrest. He clarified that the incident involved a defiant student who pushed him during an attempt to de-escalate the student’s disruptive behavior. His supervisors and the district attorney deemed the arrest justified, but a court in San Francisco, known for its apprehension towards police, sided with the student's wealthy family and led to the dismissal of the case.

While he holds a stoic demeanor, Stahler is a friendly and considerate individual. He is open to all questions (if you can find him) and truly cares about the community!