Allan Hancock College formed a committee consisting of six members to review options for the Allan Hancock College Campus Police Department after Hancock College Police Chief Paul Grohowski found six areas in need of immediate attention.
Grohowski conducted multiple assessment reports of the police department and found inadequacies in staffing, officer backup, outdated procedures and policies, and equipment. This prompted Hancock’s Board of Trustees to request a committee that consisted of a trustee and law enforcement representatives. Community members and a California School Employee Association (CSEA) representative were added to the committee as well.
The committee met on June 23 to discuss possible solutions for the Campus Police Department. Hancock’s Public Affairs and Communications Director Andrew Masuda confirmed that in the meeting, Hancock Police Chief Grohowski offered some ideas he thinks would help. Grohowski proposed contracting with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department or expanding the police department.
Masuda said that the meeting was mostly meant to discuss potential options the committee will present to the Board of Trustees at the upcoming board meeting. The Board of Trustees will make the ultimate decision, possibly at its next meeting on July 11.
Committee members include Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh, University Police Department of Cal Poly Chief George Hughes, former Guadalupe police chief and former interim Allan Hancock College police chief Chris Nartatez, vice president of Hancock’s Board of Trustees Hilda Zacarias, representative from the college’s CSEA Emmanuel Guerrero, and president of the Hancock College Foundation Board of Directors Valerie Moya.
This article appears in Jul 6-13, 2017.