By Ziere Banner |
Grizz Family! Adams State University welcomes our brand new Chief of Police, Erika Derouin. Erika is here to protect and serve and to keep our campus and our community safe. Erika Derouin was born and raised in Watertown, New York. She attended Jefferson Community College where she graduated with an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice. Growing up, she was very active as she played soccer, basketball, and softball. She expanded her soccer career as she went along and played at Jefferson Community College.
She began her law enforcement career in her hometown of Watertown, NY in July of 2000. She attended the Black River/St. Lawrence Valley Police Academy. She was a part of the road patrol unit from July 2000 to August 2008. She was promoted to detective and served as a detective until April 2012. She left NY in 2012, when she decided to expand her law enforcement career in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was hired by the Port St. Lucie PD, and while there she met a man she called her “mentor.” Erika’s mentor, Paul Grohowski, had seen the potential that she had to become a great leader. Grohowski was the previous Chief of Police at Adams State University, to which he was hired in 2015. He brought in Erika to be a part of the Adams Police Department. In August of 2016, Paul left Adams State and Erika was next up to serve as the interim Police Chief until a permanent Police Chief was found. In August 2017, Andrew MacPherson was hired to take over as Chief Police. In October of 2018, Macpherson left ASU, which left Erika, again, as the interim Chief Police. And on April 1st 2019, Erika Derouin accepted the full time Chief Police role here at Adams State University.
When asked about Adams State and how she has battled adversity, Erika responded, “During my time here at ASU, I have taken every opportunity available to me to continue growing my knowledge and skills in the Law Enforcement field by attending training classes and taking refresher course in training that I had already acquired, as I have done throughout my entire Law Enforcement career.” She also stated now that she has become the Chief of Police, “I absolutely love policing here at ASU despite it being a small campus. I believe the size of the campus gives me a much greater opportunity to touch, guide, and interact more with the campus community. I once was a young college student just like all of the students here at ASU, and I know young adults are going to test the waters and make mistakes. This is what shapes us as people. I take great pride in working with each and every young adult that I can to repair and help them learn from the mistakes that are made. I feel that guiding students through the rough waters is a very important learning curve to help that person evolve or grow as an individual, and punishment is not always the best solution or necessary. I look forward to interacting with and serving the students, faculty, and staff here at ASU on a daily basis for whatever I am needed.”
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