California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

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Police Chief Climbs Law Enforcement Ladder

Sheryl Boykins hopes to set higher standards for the
UPD.

CSU East Bay’s new police chief has an inside perspective on how life works for people on the wrong side of the law

Sheryl Boykins grew up in Hunters Point, a high-crime, low-income area in San Francisco where her family members have been active both as law enforcers and as lawbreakers.

“Half my family is cops and the other side are crooks, so holidays are real special,” chuckles Boykins. “If you come to the house there’s a box and everyone throws their guns in the box. You don’t bring your guns in the house, it’s family time.”

Boykins, a student at Lowell High School at the time, says aside from attending school daily she would follow her older brother and his gang around the city.

“The two of us, along with his crew of people, we would beat up everyone we saw. I mean it was just that kind of environment,” said Boykins.

“The other thing that I did everyday was go to school, I never missed school. But after a while, the two didn’t mix.”

Boykins says it was her mother that decided to move the family to Union City, a city that gave her a new perspective on life.

“Union City was a completely different environment and that was where I kind of learned that I can’t be the most important thing in my world, so my attitude changed, my behavior changed,” said Boykins.

She later landed a job as a security guard at Sears in Hayward’s Southland Mall, her first positive interaction with police, she says.

“They’d come every time I’d arrest someone, and several of the officers would say ‘you should go into police work,’ and I’d be thinking, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me, I hate cops, hate that blue uniform,” said Boykins who later began serving on the Hayward police force in 1985.

“There were no women on my squad, no women anywhere in the department, so it was a lot of assimilating on my part,” said Boykins, adding that changes had to be made within herself if she wanted cover on the streets from other officers.

“I grew up fighting, so I wasn’t afraid of things, and had that attitude of, ‘let’s go, what are you waiting for?’ They were never going to be waiting on me to jump in and get the ball rolling,” said Boykins.

She said this aggressive, “can do attitude” slowly gained her the respect from her counterparts, but not all were pleased with Boykins when she was promoted to lieutenant.

“A white man was running along with me who said I was an affirmative action promotee. My heart was crushed because my hard work and dedication was not being looked at,” said Boykins. “From then on, I vowed to not assimilate anymore and worked even harder especially in the African American community. It was a huge turning point for me, it was difficult initially but got easier because I worked hard.”

After 13 years of being a lieutenant in the city of Hayward, Boykins wore the blue uniform proudly along with her honorable stars and stripes representing her high rank within the police force but soon had a yearning to lead her own police force.

“I’ve always wanted to be a chief and there aren’t a lot of positions because there is obviously more employees than chiefs, so you have to really expand yourself to really become a chief,”said Boykins. “Hayward has a chief, and I couldn’t have her job. Then in December I saw an opening for a chief here at CSU East Bay.”

“I figured I know Hayward and I am a lifelong learner, so I competed,” she added. After eight interviews Boykins says it was down to her and two other candidates.

“I think I was selected because of my familiarity with the surrounding community,” said Boykins who officially took on her role as chief at the university this past April.

In the short time she has been here, Boykins says she believes there is a disconnect between the police department and the university.

“These officers have been without a chief for a while, and I think for a long time they’ve just been showing up for work and then going home,” said Boykins. “There’s no involvement or investment in the community and that’s what I’m going to change because I think it’s that important for our survival and it’s that important for the university.”

“We have to find ways of bridging that disconnect because at the end of the day if you don’t have the trust, respect and support of your community, you’re out of here,” Boykins     added.

She tells her current officers that they are replaceable and that they must remain relevant if they want to continue serving the university community.

“You’re not here to run up your stats when you’re policing on a university campus,” said Boykins to her officers.

One of the ways she is looking to increase the trust level on campus is by practicing community policing which looks to build relationships and include the people of the community in the decisions made.

“I was a community policing commander and from the beginning of my career that was my philosophy for policing,” said Boykins. “I didn’t care too much for the traditional call for service where you see someone who is a chronic homeless person, alcoholic, tagger or whatever and you pick them up, put them in the back of car, take them to jail for incarceration.”

Boykins added that in this process the person would be free to roam the streets again before a report was filed.

The traditional call for service seemed to find ways to get rid of the problem, and wasn’t meant to find the symptoms of the problem she adds.

“Students are so eclectic out here, every background and lifestyle is out here and I want them all to be able to experience the freedoms they have here without the heavy handed policing that is done in the city of Hayward,” said Boykins.

She says so far the structure of the police department is going well, and after conducting a survey in September about the UPD, students will see a difference in the department.

“We’ll see what people think of it and hopefully be able to make some changes because at this time I know there is room for improvement and it’s easy to improve,” said Boykins.

Boykins says the university could greatly improve if it had a better relationship with the city of Hayward and vice versa.

“I think there could be bigger and better events that the city can sponsor. I think my relationship with the city of Hayward can help with bridging gaps and it will be beneficial for the both of us,” said Boykins.

She says that the city is still getting over the universities name change from Cal State Hayward to Cal State East Bay and that such issues like this need to be put to rest.

“There was such a rub with the city when the university changed its name. You can’t keep harping on something that’s not going to change. Let’s move forward from that,” said Boykins.

Although this may be hard for many in the Hayward community, Boykins says it’s only going to work if both entities work together and support each other.

“Someone just has to be first to stick their hand out,” said Boykins. “I was given an opportunity I thought I would never ever get, and I think I owe Brad Wells and the campus everything I have to give, and that’s long term. I don’t see this as a steppingstone. I’m hoping to stay here as long as the president feels I am useful.”

Boykins says she thinks her ability to motivate and inspire people is also a part of the reason she was appointed to chief at CSUEB, but that her past and future decisions have made her a better officer.

“If you make decisions when you’re young, you have time to recover, but when you’re older you usually don’t stay on that path,” said Boykins who said her daughter will be attending CSUEB in the fall. “The decisions that I make are not only my decisions, I have to look my daughter in the face. I think you police different when you want the best safety for your own.”

But it’s not all about police work, she said. She also plays softball which she says keeps her grounded.

“I play second base. I love it because it’s so different but it’s also similar because just like my job here you can’t be selfish, there are rules you have to play by and a respect you give your team and the other team,” said Boykins who also finds time to read, garden and go shopping.

“If all you do is police work all the time I think you become warped. You start seeing people as criminals or out to get you,” said Boykins. “There’s enough of my personal life that keeps me human.”

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Police Chief Climbs Law Enforcement Ladder