Interim police chief: ‘We need to rebuild trust’
Humboldt State University’s interim police chief said Tuesday she will look to establish relationships in the campus community and within her own embattled department, which has been fraught with controversies over the past year.
Christina Lofthouse joined the HSU Police Department several months ago as a lieutenant and earned the interim chief promotion after the immediate retirement on Sunday of chief Donn Peterson.
Lofthouse previously served in campus police departments at UC Davis and Sacramento State University.
“Campus policing is so unique because it’s a very community-oriented kind of policing,” Lofthouse said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’re trusted with a parents’ most precious thing — their children. We’re responsible for the safety and security of students. That’s very unique and special.”
HSU police officers told the Times-Standard that Lofthouse has already been running the dayto-day operations of the department. Officer Billy Kijsriopas said the new interim chief has done a “great job at stabilizing the department.”
“I think just having open lines of communication is maybe what he’s referring to,” Lofthouse said in response Tuesday. “It’s been important to me to build trust within the organization and have good communication with the guys.”
Peterson’s five-year tenure comes to an end amid a university-ordered independent review of his conduct, which is expected to be made available to HSU in several weeks’ time.
He received a vote of no confidence from his officers in 2019,
while a black officer in the department filed a Title IX complaint against him earlier this year for racially discriminatory language. Peterson has not responded to multiple requests for comment on his retirement.
“I am catching up with some of that,” Lofthouse said about the allegations against her predecessor. “I understand there have been some challenges within the department, but I don’t think it’s anything we cannot overcome.”
Another challenge, Lofthouse said, is the ongoing protests against law enforcement that have emerged across the country over the past week after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
A number of protesters in Eureka were HSU students, though no such demonstration has broken out on HSU’s campus, which is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to reach out and rebuild trust so that members of the community and law enforcement feel safe and secure,” Lofthouse said.
Some who attended the Eureka protest held up “Justice for Josiah” signs, in reference to the 19-yearold HSU student fatally stabbed in 2017, a case that remains unsolved by Arcata police.
Lofthouse called the death a tragedy, repeating that trust needs to be rebuilt between police and local residents. She cited her experience at Davis and Sacramento as preparation for any protests that might break out on campus.
“We want to be aware if there’s to be protest on our campus,” she said. “I would encourage meeting with organizers ahead of time to make sure we can have a safe protest.”