Contact: Aaron Lambert
805-756-5856; amlamber@calpoly.edu

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Following a comprehensive national recruitment Cal Poly is proud to announce that Robert Plastino will serve as the university’s next chief of police.

Plastino will be sworn in July 25.

His appointment comes after previous chief George Hughes was promoted in summer 2024 to the role of associate vice president, Public Safety, which oversees the police departments at both Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Solano Campus, as well as the university’s Transportation and Parking Services and Department of Emergency Services.

“With his extensive background in public safety and working collaboratively with an academic community similar to ours, Robert is going to be a perfect fit with our holistic, compassionate and progressive public safety approach at Cal Poly,” Hughes said.    

Plastino brings more than 27 years of experience with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office. In that time, he was in charge of executive management of the department’s north county and south county operations, where he oversaw more than 250 sworn and non-sworn staff, as well as criminal investigations.

His experience also includes years of working collaboratively with UC Santa Barbara administration and student populations as well as close community relations with Isla Vista residents. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the Cal Poly community and continue to build on the great work that the department has been doing to foster a culture of excellence, accountability and integrity,” Plastino said. “As we head into a new academic year, we will recommit to teamwork, cross campus collaboration and constant innovation so we can continue to grow trust in our community and increase support on campus.”

Plastino holds a master’s degree in public administration as well as a Bachelor of Science in business administration, demonstrating his commitment to continued learning and professional development.

With 22 sworn officers, Cal Poly Police Department is actively involved in the university community and is committed to an educational, responsive, non-escalatory model.