Ronald Schram, a veteran law enforcement officer with nearly 40 years of experience, was named interim police chief of the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District on Aug. 14 at a Hancock board of trustees meeting.
The hire came less than a month after the district’s previous chief, Paul Grohowski, resigned after seven months on the job. After an assigned evaluation into the college police department, Grohowski found inadequate staffing, training, and funding. He recommended contracting with another larger law enforcement agency, according to the college.
Grohowski’s last day was July 31.
Schram, who will serve as Hancock’s interim police chief through the end of this year, acted as a law enforcement consultant to the Santa Maria Police Department from December 2015 to July 2017. He helped the department improve its policies and procedures while he investigated missing person cases, according to a Hancock press release.
Before his time in Santa Maria, Schram was a deputy sheriff and sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, then a sergeant and interim police chief for the Cuesta College Police Department.
“I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Allan Hancock College Police Department,” Schram said in the release. “I believe my experience working with the sheriff’s office, Cuesta College, and most recently with the Santa Maria Police Department will prove invaluable and help ensure the students, faculty, staff, and community will remain as safe as possible.”
Hancock Public Affairs Director Andrew Masuda wrote in an email to the Sun that it is still unclear when a permanent police chief will be hired and how much the search will cost. The college, he said, will continue to run its police department as is.
“The department will continue to move forward and serve and protect students, faculty, staff, and community,” Masuda said.
This article appears in Aug 24-31, 2017.
