SSU narrows search for police chief

Since former SSU Chief Nathan Johnson left in June 2016 there has been a two high-profile homicides on campus and an SSU officer-involved shooting.|

After nearly two years without an official chief of police, Sonoma State University plans to hire a new head for the 14-officer department before the start of the next academic year.

The Rohnert Park university has narrowed the pool of applicants to three finalists. Final on-ca­­­­­­­mpus interviews are expected to take place in June.

The new chief will fill a vacancy created by the departure of former police Chief Nathan Johnson, who left unceremoniously after stabbing his ?stepson with a power drill multiple times during a May 2016 domestic dispute in his Hayward home.

Johnson was placed on paid leave the day after the brawl, which sent him and his 20-year-old stepson to the hospital. Neither man faced criminal prosecution following the violent outburst.

Johnson, who had been police chief at Sonoma State’s Rohnert Park campus since 1999, never returned to the police force. He resigned July 31 last year.

Interim Chief David Dougherty took over June 1, 2016. ?He joined the SSU force in 2005 as an officer and held the ?rank of captain before his promotion to interim chief, Gullixson said.

“Nearly two years ago, he was asked to fill in as interim chief and has done so admirably,” Gullixson said in an email.

Neither Dougherty nor Gullixson would say whether the interim chief was one of the three final candidates for police chief. Gullixson declined to identify the three finalists, citing “personnel privacy reasons.”

The Sonoma State police chief position was first posted in early January, according to the university’s website. The job has an annual base salary of $140,000.

Gullixson declined to comment on what characteristics the university was seeking in its next chief.

Dougherty has led the SSU police force through what he called “some unique cases,” but declined further comment on his tenure. It includes two high-profile homicides on campus - a May 13 stabbing in a campus dorm and the 2016 discovery of a body buried in a shallow grave. Neither incident involved university students.

In May 2017, an SSU officer shot a man in the back in Cotati while attempting to detain the suspected gunman. The suspect was not a student.

Other law enforcement agencies took the lead role in investigating all three incidents. The SSU police force lacks the resources to investigate complex crimes and must rely on outside agencies for assistance, Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

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