CSUEB grads are top cops in Oakland and Walnut Creek

• May 15, 2013 5:00am

Two Cal State East Bay alumni were tapped for top law enforcement positions in the East Bay.  Sean Whent '92, criminal justice, is the acting chief for the Oakland Police Department and Steve Skinner '94, master of public administration, has been appointed interim police chief for the city of Walnut Creek.

Whent most recently served as deputy chief and commander of the bureau of risk management which oversaw the training section, Internal Affairs division, Office of Inspector General, the criminalistics division and the personnel Assessment Unit.  “Although my appointment is interim, I pledge to own the role and assignment as if it were not...,” Whent said in an NBC Bay Area news report. “I have been part of the team that has worked with national experts in the fields of crime reduction and enforcement strategies to develop a hot-off-the press plan for tackling robberies, burglaries, and shootings. I am confident that we can implement the recommendations in that plan in short order.”

Skinner, a 25-year Walnut Creek police veteran, will serve until a new chief is in place. "I am very honored and excited to be given the opportunity to help transition our police department into the next generation of leadership, and I am looking forward to working with both members of our department and the community as we move the (department) into the future," Skinner said in an email to the Bay Area News Group.

Congrats to Chief Whent and Chief Skinner!

KL