For Immediate Release: August 28, 2007

 

Media Contact: Allison Abel, Public Affairs; (562) 860-2451, ext. 2287

 

NORWALK, CA -- August 28, 2007 -- Richard Bukowiecki, who has served as interim Chief of Police at Cerritos College since 2006, was formally hired as permanent Chief of Police on Wednesday, Aug. 15.

 

Bukowiecki will continue to oversee the Cerritos College Campus Police Department, a full-service police agency with over 50 employees including 14 fully-sworn peace officers.

 

Bukowiecki first joined the campus police squadron in 1988 as a part-time dispatcher, and a year later became an officer. He served as a lieutenant for 11 years before being promoted to interim Chief of Police.

 

In the late 1990’s, Bukowiecki helped created the Community Service Officers program, which allows Cerritos College students majoring in administration of justice to work for the department and gain practical experience while they complete their A.A. degrees. Participants in the program have gone on to jobs with the CHP and the Los Angeles and Long Beach police departments, as well as other agencies.

 

Bukowiecki also worked with a previous chief to install towers in campus parking lots to combat crime, which resulted in an immediate reduction in auto thefts and burglaries in the lots.

 

Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college's district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 200 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently surpasses 20,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at http://www.cerritos.edu/.

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