The University of California, Merced, appointed Albert Vasquez police chief and assistant vice chancellor for campus and public safety.

As assistant vice chancellor, Vasquez will oversee UC Merced’s growing safety programs, including environmental health and safety; risk services; fire and public safety; inspection and building services; parking enforcement; and worker’s compensation.

Vasquez has served as both police chief and dean of campus security and student health and safety at Santa Monica College since 2008.

Vasquez brings 33 years of experience in law enforcement and public safety to UC Merced, including time spent with the United Nations International Police Task Force and the Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program. He also has several years of administrative experience in education, both at the community college and K-12 level.

At Santa Monica College, Vasquez oversees a department of 130 employees and student workers who serve a population of approximately 45,000 students, faculty and staff members at five sites in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. While there, he has developed the school’s federally-recognized Campus-Community Emergency Response Team program and implemented National Incident Management System, Incident Command System and Standardized Emergency Management System practices and protocols on campus. 

He holds a doctoral degree in education from the University of Southern California; master’s degrees in criminal justice, from Chapman University, and in Homeland Security studies, from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey; and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Los Angeles. He has also served as an adjunct professor and faculty member at several Southern California colleges and universities.