Announcing appointment of UCSC Chief of Police

To: UC Santa Cruz Community

From: Clement Stokes, AVC Risk and Safety Services

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Domby to the position of Executive Director of Public Safety and UC Santa Cruz Chief of Police. Monday was Chief Domby’s first day. 

Domby comes to UCSC after 23 years with the California Highway Patrol. He started and now finishes his career in the Santa Cruz area. Rising through the ranks, he has served as an officer, sergeant, lieutenant, supervisor and acting commander and  collaborated with local, state and federal agencies in areas such as community outreach, emergency response and incident command. 

Before going into law enforcement, Domby had a career in education as a high school teacher and college instructor at two community colleges. He taught on and off campus and also at a correctional facility. He also held the position of transfer coordinator and admissions officer at the Maryland Institute College of Arts. 

Domby received a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Virginia Wesleyan College and a Masters in Fine Art in Studio Art, Art Education from Radford University. 

Using his combined experience in higher education and law enforcement, he is looking forward to building an inclusive and collaborative public safety environment within the department and across campus. 

Domby has received commendations for Outstanding Performance, Exceptional Performance, Investigative Commitment and he was named Officer of the Year twice while working in the Clear Lake area.

I want to thank Mary Garcia  and Greg Flippo who have served as interim chiefs for more than two years. Taking over after the retirement of Chief Nader Oweis, they have provided strong leadership through challenging times and worked closely with campus partners to re-envision campus safety. We are grateful for their willingness to lead the organization through this leadership transition.

I also would like to thank the search advisory committee members, especially Chair David Keller, for their work in reviewing and interviewing the candidates. We had a strong group of finalists. Thank you, as well, to the many in our campus community who engaged with us in the search process and provided valuable feedback. The input was extremely helpful.

Please join me in welcoming Kevin Domby to UC Santa Cruz and to his new post as Chief of Police.