At a swearing-in ceremony Friday, Adams State University welcomed to campus its new Chief of Police, Paul Grohowski. He comes to the San Luis Valley from Florida, but is a New York native and knows cold weather.
"I think Adams State and I will fit well together, because I attained all my higher education as an adult student, and I can relate to what students are dealing with. Also, I have two children in college, so I also identify with the parent population," Grohowski said. "I subscribe to the philosophy of Community Oriented Policing and enjoy working in a customer-satisfaction driven environment."
Grohowski brings 19 years of law enforcement experience. Since 2002, he moved through the ranks at the Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Police Department, from police officer to his most recent post as shift commander. He was honored with the prestigious Palm Beach Police Benevolent Society’s Officer of the Month award for November 2014 in recognition of work that also earned him three life-saving citations and an exceptional duty citation.
Adams State Vice President for Student Affairs Ken Marquez said, "I believe Chief Grohowski’s police skills and experience in community based policing, matched with his passion and energy, will really resonate with our students and staff. He brings a wide range of experience that will continue to lead our police department into the future."
As Evening Shift Commander in Port St. Lucie, he operated a $40 million budget, serving a population of 175,000 residents. He coordinated deployment of all police services and support resources for four patrol districts covering 118 square miles. These included Major Crimes Investigations, SWAT, and Traffic Homicide Investigator callouts.
He also implemented two action plans that achieved a 31 percent reduction of residential burglaries and 13 percent decrease in conveyance burglaries.
For six years prior, he was a police officer and community police officer for the Danbury (Conn.) Police Department. As a community/bike patrol officer, his beat included a college campus.
Grohowski served as Field Training Officer Program supervisor for both police departments, and has been a SWAT team member, sniper, and team leader for more than 11 years.
In Florida, Grohowski participated in planning and protection operations for the Republic National Convention in Tampa in 2012 and served as incident commander during direct hurricane strikes and tropical storms. He also initiated multi-agency SWAT training for active shooter responses to all county schools, including three college campuses.
Grohowski earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Indian River State College in 2005, then attended Barry University in Miami, where he completed a BA in professional administration in 2008 and a Master of Science in public administration in 2012. In 2011, he earned a certificate from the Executive Leadership Academy of the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement and in 2012 completed National Tactical Officer Association’s (NTOA) SWAT Commander School. He also completed the State of Florida’s Commission of Criminal Justice Standards and Training Council’s Middle Management and Line Supervision Courses in 2008 and 2007, respectively.
He and his wife, Marissa, have four daughters.
