New police chief and officers sworn in at Cal Poly
Jarrod Zinn
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Cal Poly held the swearing-in ceremony for its new police chief this morning.
The new chief brings plenty of experience, and the previous one was promoted.
Last year, previous Cal Poly police chief George Hughes was promoted to vice president of public safety for both this campus and the one in Solano, and today he officially swore in his successor for SLO’s campus police chief.
Robert Plastino brings nearly three decades of experience in public safety with the Santa Barbara county sheriff’s office in various capacities.
“I was the chief deputy of law enforcement operations there,” says Cal Poly’s new police chief Robert Plastino. “So handled patrol from Carpinteria up to Santa Maria out to Cuyama and then all of our detectives in our detective bureaus.”
He also worked for public safety at Isla Vista, giving him a range of experience and knowledge of the central coast.
“The university is like a city,” says Chief Plastino. “I mean, it’s its own city. It’s got almost everything you can think of, you know, in the way of what a city might have. So it’s very similar. And I kind of look at it from that perspective.”
After Plastino was sworn in by Hughes, Plastino then swore in a total of six new officers which included a canine unit named Dex.
“Our previous K-9 Zeus retired about a week ago and Dex is coming in, bring in a fresh new perspective from the K-9,” says Cal Poly Public Safety’s executive director Anthony Knight.
Public safety officials for Cal Poly say this event was somewhat rare since new chiefs don’t come along often, but the old chief isn’t really leaving, either.
“I’m excited to be here,” says Chief Plastino. “I have got a great department to work with. I have a great boss that has stood in my shoes before, which is unusual. That’s not something that normally happens. Chiefs come in and they don’t get to work directly for the previous chief. So that’s a positive. That means that it’s going to be a seamless operation.”
Cal Poly public safety leaders are encouraged by the smoothness of this last year, and they look forward to working with the student body as much as the community to enhance student experience and maintain safe operations.
Chief Plastino says the middle of summer is an ideal time for him to get settled, before normal classes resume in about a month’s time.
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