University PD swears in new lieutenant

By MAURICE O. NDOLE

He said he doesn’t like surprises, but this was no ordinary surprise for newly named university police lieutenant Allen Gaad.

He was not aware that he was going to be sworn in, and he did not expect to see his family at the ceremony.

Gaad was sworn in Monday in the presence of his father, Albert Gaad; his wife, Pam; and his daughter, Kristina, a freshman at Fresno State, in a surprise ceremony organized by Fresno State’s public safety department.

“They surprised me. I didn’t know this was coming,” said Gaad, who joined the force April 11. “That’s the biggest surprise I’ve had in a very long time.”

Lori Alamano, personal assistant to police chief David Huerta, said the public safety department preferred to welcome new officers and give departmental promotions by personalizing them through surprise parties in the presence of the officers’ families.

Gaad, 53, who graduated from Fresno State in 1974 with a degree in criminology, retired from the Fresno Sheriff’s department last year after serving for 29 years. He is a member of several police organizations, including the California Homicide Investigators Association, the California Association of Police Training Officers and the Central Counties Training Committee, among others.

He has also served as a background investigator and a part-time instructor at the State Center Police Academy.

Gaad said he was happy to join the university police.

“I plan on staying here for quite some time,” Gaad said. “I don’t plan to go anywhere else.”