UC Merced police chief retires

Rita Spaur, the first chief of police at UC Merced, has retired.

Spaur, 66, confirmed her retirement Monday in an interview with the Merced Sun-Star. Lt. Chou Her is the interim as the college searches for a new chief, she said.

“It was the most amazing experience to start a department, to build a brand-new institution from the ground up,” Spaur said. “It was very rewarding.”

She said her last official day of duty was March 2.

Michael Reese, the college’s vice chancellor of business and administrative services, congratulated the chief on her retirement and praised her efforts in forming the college’s police department.

“It’s no small accomplishment at all to be a founding chief of police,” Reese said Monday. “We hope to build on her legacy for the future.”

Reese said the school was planning a national recruitment effort to fill the vacancy that could take up to nine months to complete.

UC Merced spokeswoman Brenda Ortiz said the university didn’t announce the retirement publicly, but said officials did inform the students back in December.

“Except for the position of chancellor, we don’t typically do a press release or external announcement when administrators leave or retire,” Ortiz said.

Spaur was named chief of police in 2005, eventually building a staff of 13 sworn employees, including nine police officers, over her 10 years at the head of the department.

Over a 43-year career, Spaur worked for police departments at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Northern Colorado before joining the UC Davis force as a lieutenant in 1994. She was promoted to captain in 1999, and to assistant chief in 2002. She served as the Davis department’s interim chief for two months in 2005 before coming to Merced.

“I plan on staying in Merced and doing whatever I can to stay involved in the community,” Spaur said.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 1:30 PM with the headline "UC Merced police chief retires."