After 28 years with the Wichita Police Department, Carlos Atondo thought he was ready to retire. A few months later, he was back in service — this time, as Newman’s director of campus security.
“I was looking for a part-time job just to supplement retirement,” Atondo said. “So, I really wasn’t wanting to work this much, but it just worked out.”
Atondo was born in Mexico but raised in Harper, Kansas. After graduating from Wichita State University in 1995, he worked as a police officer on the campus for two years while attending the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center.
In 1997, he was hired by the Wichita Police Department, where he served in different roles throughout his 28 years with them. For 10 of those years, he did community policing.
“I actually worked over on this side of the industrial area off West Street, so I was real familiar with the university and what’s around it,” he said.
Dean of Students Andi Giesen, who helped in the hiring process of Atondo, said this was one of the reasons he was hired.
“Carlos is very aware of the regional resources and neighborhood dynamics of the City of Wichita, an attribute we were searching for,” Giesen said. “We felt that quality would benefit our students and the entire Newman community with the safety, security and resources we want them to have.”
Atondo also worked as a security resource officer (SRO) for five years, working between Marshall Middle School, Pleasant Valley Middle School and Wichita North High School. As an SRO, he said he usually only connected with the same few kids.
“Just like police work, it kind of represents a small majority of people that you deal with — you only dealt with about 10% of the kids,” he said. “You saw them over and over and over, and that’s how it is in the community too.”
At Newman, however, he already feels more connected.
“It was tough coming from a place of working in public schools and then coming here and seeing how kids are that want to be here and are working to make themselves better,” he said. “So I really enjoy being here.”
A familiar face
Atondo is no stranger to the Newman community, it turns out. The previous Director of Campus Security Steve Patton, who was hired in 2023 and left at the end of the year in 2024, was Atondo’s partner in the Wichita force.
“Me and him were partners up on the north side at 21st and Hillside,” Atondo said. “Me and him worked nights together in that area. We rode in the car a lot together, so we got to know each other.”
Patton and Atondo worked together in the Special Community Action Team, focused on gang suppression and drug intervention.
“We did some search warrants on drug houses, and we just kind of chased around violent crime around the city,” Atondo said.
Beyond the badge
Outside of work, Atondo enjoys camping and fishing. After retiring from community policing, he even took a month-long road trip with his 24-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome.
“When I retired, me and her traveled close to where my family is along the Mexican border, south of Tucson,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. It was nice to decompress from the job that I’d been doing.”
Atondo officially started at Newman on Oct. 1, and said he already feels welcomed.
“I just appreciate everybody being so nice,” he said. “The staff is nice, the kids are really good — it’s been a nice place to work.”
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