Chou Her, a candidate in the university’s search for a new Assistant Chief of the University of Oregon Police Department, gave a talk on campus today, outlining what he feels are the most important aspects of a university police department.
Her has worked for the University of California, Merced, as a campus officer for 11 years. He is currently serving as the department’s Interim Chief of Police. Moving from Laos to Portland when he was three-years-old, Her is fluent in English and Chinese.
The Assistant Chief is a new position at the UOPD. The Assistant Chief will work directly below Chief Carolyn McDermed, focusing on campus community involvement.
In his talk at the Ford Alumni Center, Her focused on the importance of melding the community with its police department. He advocated for a transparent, diverse and inclusive department. Student involvement is key, he said, an aspect that separates university police from the city police department.
“Every student success is our success. Every student failure is our failure,” Her said. “We’re all part of this.”
Her said he would work on community engagement using student volunteers, event outreach and collaboration with faculty.
“There are much smarter minds on campus that we can tap into; they’re called faculty,” he said.
Her hoped officers can build a relationship with students and faculty on campus, getting out of their vehicles to connect with the community.
“Officers can be more than that guy who gave you a ticket,” he said.