The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: UPD Chief

  • The UPD is still understaffed and without a police chief – but not desperate

    by Brad Butterfield

    Originally printed May 3, 2023

    An expected 2,000 additional students are anticipated for the Fall ‘23 semester, threatening to strain an already understaffed police department at Cal Poly Humboldt. The UPD is currently absent a police chief and shorthanded in both dispatchers and officers. Since early March, the number of new hires onto the force has not increased—not for lack of effort. Despite working long hours to compensate for the lack of personnel, Sergeant Andy Martin remains optimistic.

     In early March a candidate for police chief, Kevin H. Williams, was interviewed by the hiring committee. Williams, a former LAPD lieutenant with a long resume as a public servant in many departments, filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles in 1999. The suit claimed racial discrimination and cited that Williams suffered from pseudofolliculitis-barbae, which allegedly prevented him from shaving his beard and commonly afflicts Black men. A federal district court would later dismiss the case. Martin, who serves on the hiring committee for the department, couldn’t divulge the reasons Williams was not hired onto the UPD force. With extensive medical tests, background checks, psychological evaluation and training required in the hiring of any officer, Martin explained that it is unlikely CPH will have a police chief come the Fall ‘23 semester.

    “I would be shocked if it all happens before fall semester starts, but things happen. I’ve been surprised before, but I don’t think so,” said Martin.

    Although short staffed, the department is not rushing the hiring process. 

    “Our Vice President [Dr. Jenn Capps] puts a lot of expectations and weight behind the police chief and so, she’s made it clear – she’s not just going to hire anybody. She wants to make sure she’s hiring the right person for the job and what we need on campus,” Martin said.

    While scrupulous hiring is partly to blame for the lack of personnel on the force, it is far from the only force at play here. The very features of Humboldt county which attract many residents often work against the UPD’s effort in enticing new officers to join the force. 

    “The county tends to be a little behind the rest of the country in some aspects. You know, the night life completely shuts off at a certain hour. It’s a quiet place,” Martin said. “We don’t have the fast food chains. We don’t have what you would expect in some of the bigger cities. That can be a detriment for us sometimes because we are asking somebody to come to a more remote and isolated spot.”

    Martin further explained that being behind the ‘Redwood Curtain’ filters out many potential officers. 

    “It’s just hard to convince somebody to come work up here in a smaller department… It’s intimidating for a lot of people if they’ve never been here,” Martin said.

    Just as in March, dispatcher Jennifer Gomes is still working long hours as one of only two full time dispatchers employed by the UPD. Two potential hires for dispatcher are being considered currently, but even if both are hired, “they’ll probably still be in training as the next semester gets going,” Martin said. Additionally, one officer is currently going through the hiring process. 

    “I am optimistic that they will be here before this next semester,” said Martin.

    Evidently on the backfoot, the likely addition of two dispatchers and one officer will still leave the UPD undermanned. Lack of officers means that there is often just one officer on duty. In anticipation of the rapidly expanding new polytechnic university, the UPD will be hiring another sergeant and a couple more officers. 

    “That process is just getting started,” Martin said. “So I expect that some of them will start mid [fall] semester at some point.” 

    Regarding the massive influx of students coming to Arcata for the fall semester, Martin is confident that the department will be ready.  “Our staff is incredible. You can tell by the hours people put in and the heart that they give to this department,” Martin said before adding, “It would be a little more comfortable if we had more people though.”

  • Police chief candidate views cause concern among students

    Police chief candidate views cause concern among students

    by Carlos Pedraza

    The Chief of Police Search Committee held an open forum on Wednesday, Oct. 19 for students to ask questions of Thomas Calucci, one of the police chief candidates. A Cal Poly Humboldt email stated the meeting was being held in the Library Fishbowl but was changed at the last minute to the Great Hall above the Marketplace. In total, only two students were present to ask questions.

    Calucci is a former police captain from the University of Texas at San Antonio and was a member of the Behavioral Intervention Team, an organization that provides mental health checks. While at UTSA, Calucci collaborated with school counseling faculty to provide crisis training to university police.

    Calucci wants to bring a similar program to Cal Poly Humboldt.  

    “I want social workers to ride with our police officers,” Calucci said. 

    He went on to explain how he wanted police to integrate with the community and was against the us vs. them mentality of the thin blue line.

    “I need our cops to understand at this university, we are not here to kick ass and take names, we are here to protect you all,” Calucci said.

    Still, Calucci made it clear his main goal was to protect the university from those whom he saw as outsiders. 

    “I’m fairly certain that somewhere, someone in this community has a grievance against this university,” Calucci said. “Whether it be a faculty member or other student, I’m fairly certain that person is planning revenge… I wanna be here to protect you from them, not from yourself.”  

    When Calucci was asked who “them” was, he answered, “there are people who intend to do you harm, those are the people who I don’t like.” 

    Calucci appears to understand that policing has caused problems, specifically citing police-related generational trauma. Though he is aware of it, Calucci does not consider it his role to solve this problem. 

    “I did not sign up for the things you are asking me to do,” Calucci said.

    Humboldt student Elizabeth Rubio explained how the police system has a history of racism, prejudice, and violence, and asked how Calucci would handle prejudice in his staff and himself. 

    “First thing you said is we live in a racist society and that sucks you feel that way.” Calucci said. He acknowledged that racism was present in society. “ If I could wave a magic wand and make it go away I would because of that crap,” Calucci said in response to Rubio.  

    Rubio proceed to asked if Calucci was aware of the murder of Josiah Lawson and the case surrounding the alledged murder. Calucci said he saw a sign supporting Justice for Josiah, but he did not know any specifics of the case.

    Rubio also asked about the police response to student homelessness. Calucci said police would not harass students sleeping in cars and wanted them to feel safe. He stated his main goal was to get students off the streets and find temporary housing for them. 

    Jue Smith, the other student at the forum, felt that both police chief candidates were unprepared. 

    “Neither candidate did their homework about this area or legislation that’s been passed,” Smith said.

  • HSU Considers UPD chief candidate: Jason Wade

    HSU Considers UPD chief candidate: Jason Wade

    Captain of the University of Oregon police department, Jason Wade, puts his hat in the ring for UPD chief at HSU.

    Following the retirement of former chief, Donn Peterson, in the end of May, the University Police Department has begun its official search for a new chief. Current captain of the University of Oregon Police Department, Jason Wade, is one of the two candidates currently in contention for the position.

    Wade has more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement, working primarily for the University of Colorado, Boulder Police Department and for the past six years with the UOPD. In his time with the UOPD, Wade has served as an instructor and director for their cadet academy, developed their body camera program and served as the internal affairs investigator managing the background process for new employees.

    In today’s atmosphere of nation-wide calls for radical change regarding the country’s law enforcement system, Wade believes that rather than defund police departments, we need to re-think them.

    “The police in the past were seen as the catch all. You know, if you have a problem you call them,” Wade said. “And the expectation was that they were able to respond and serve equally no matter what.”

    Wade is of the mind, not every call for service requires the response of a police officer and that many non-violent calls would be better handled by mental health professionals.

    “The police still are responsible for enforcing the laws and keeping people safe but how can we better address those issues,” Wade said. “That’s one of the largest levels of police reform, is the calls for service and how we respond with what we respond with.”

    According to Wade, the benefit of having a campus police department, in specific, is the collaboration with the university that wouldn’t take place with a city department.

    “The campus police department can be brought forward to help the campus,” Wade said. “We can be trained. We can work with the campus to develop the department that the campus needs.”

    Campus police departments can also be held to a higher level of accountability by the university. Given the job, Wade plans to implement the policy work groups system currently in place at the UOPD.

    The system involves reading every new policy or change in policy at the UPD to a community panel made up of students, staff and faculty of the university who are given the opportunity to weigh in on each policy.

    “At some level there has to be oversight that allows the community to see what occurs behind the walls of a department,” Wade said. “So, they know that if a complaint, an allegation of misconduct or something is going on inside the department, that it’s being handled and handled appropriately – and if there is misconduct, that we’re taking measures to not let it happen again.”

    When Wade started as a young police officer, he said it was all about how many tickets he would write, how fast he could drive and the fancy gadgets he got to play with.

    “That was the mindset back in the late 90’s,” Wade said. “There were problems then, but we didn’t address them. We didn’t have the concepts of implicit bias training or crisis intervention training. I’ve seen change occur, but we’re not there, where we need to be, yet.”

    Ultimately, Wade believes, rather than acting in the interest of whoever is in power, a UPD has to hold the best interest of the entire community above all, in order to succeed in creating a safe learning environment for students.

    “This should never be the ‘Jason Wade’ Police Department,” Wade said. “Because that will not be successful.”

  • Defund HSU’s Police Department

    Defund HSU’s Police Department

    Incidents of racism from the former UPD Chief, past examples of excessive force from current officers and a shrinking university budget.

    In recent months, demonstrations against police brutality and the killing of Black and Brown people have increased. Black Lives Matter protestors have called not only for the demilitarization of police but for a move towards defunding the police and reinvesting those funds to community-centered organizations for public safety.

    On Sept. 4, Humboldt State University students and other community members met at the Arcata Plaza in support of defunding HSU’s campus police department. As of last quarter, HSU’s University Police budget sits at over 3 million dollars a year. The University Library sits just below 3.5 million dollars a year.

    According to the HSU’s Annual Security Report for 2018, 89 percent of law enforcement on campus consists of drug and alcohol referrals. UPD made a single drug-related arrest in 2018. The other 11 percent of cases reported were theft and assault. Referrals are basically reports filed directly to HSU that are not criminal but often result in administrative action. This job is something expected of R.A.’s who report alcohol use as referrals.

    Incidents of racism from the former UPD Chief, past examples of excessive force from current officers and a shrinking university budget

    With the existence of the Arcata City Police, and their own $6 million dollar budget, the necessity of an entire force for these offenses leaves the HSUPD as an utter redundancy.

    HSU student and Check-It staff member, Shelley Magallanes, compiled research about complaints against HSUPD for use of excessive force and shared it on their Instagram. Currently on the payroll is Delmar Tompkins who has been involved in two accusations of police brutality, cases were settled for $135,000 and $43,000. As well as Justin Winkle who was involved in an incident of excessive force that left the victim dead in his jail cell hours later. The City of Eureka settled this case for $4.5 million.

    Former University police Chief Donn Peterson resigned on May 31 while he was on leave and under fire from a multitude of accusations including racist remarks and manipulation of crime statistics. Peterson served as police chief of UPD for six years and to assume that his actions are that of “one bad apple” just doesn’t do this issue justice. His actions exemplify the prevalence of a racist culture that pervades the criminal justice system.

    The nationwide movement for defunding the police has been sparked by the way that force is used and applied recklessly to BIPOC. This comes after a long history of police operating as a militant arm of white supremacy and working to disproportionately incarcerate POC, leading to further widespread racial inequities. Allowing the persistence of unjust systems on campus, while alternatives are proven to work more effectively at promoting public safety is negligent. We have an opportunity to work towards a more just and equitable campus through the many organizations that we already have established.

    HSU is facing widespread budget cuts, losing funding to the array of vital multicultural centers, diverse academic programs and student-led organizations, the UPD budget and existence looks especially obsolete.