Founding UC Merced Staffer Wraps Up 45 Years in Law Enforcement

On Aug. 12, 2005, less than one month before UC Merced opened its doors to undergraduate students, Tamela Adkins joined the campus’s Police Department as support services manager.

Intially, her role included managing records and evidence, overseeing the police dispatch center and hiring. She later added responsibility for the administrative unit and a federally required annual report of security policy and crime statistics..

Tears filled her eyes as she expressed what the past 20 years have meant to her.

“My blood, sweat and tears are part of the ground that gets moved when something new gets built on campus,” said Adkins, who retires this month as Protective Services business operations manager. “Through the good times and the tough times, we are all part of the sweat, the tears and the joy.”

UC Merced was the second stop on a 45-year career in law enforcement. Before joining the university, she worked for 23 years with the California Highway Patrol. One of her first duties at UC Merced was hiring the campus’s first three police officers prior to opening day. That included Chou Her, now the assistant vice chancellor of Public Safety and chief of police.

“Tamela has been a remarkable representative of the UC Merced Police Department and a champion of what it means to serve our university community,” Her said. “She is an important part of the department because she is the one behind the scenes that makes us successful and ready to serve our campus.”

Adkins said she and other founding staff relied on any knowledge, skill or experience they brought to UC Merced to figure out what was needed and get it accomplished.

“It was hardworking people trying to make our students experience what they would get if they went to a more established campus,” she said. “Whether they needed to get a ticket signed off or file a report, we’re going to provide them with the same service they would get at another campus, but we’re smaller and have the opportunity to genuinely care about their circumstances.”

Her start in law enforcement began just days after she earned her diploma. “I graduated high school on a Friday and started at the Los Banos Police Department as a file clerk the following Monday.”

She was later hired as a call taker for the California Highway Patrol in 1983 and promoted to 9-1-1 dispatcher in 1984.

“It instantly became refreshing. In a 9-1-1 dispatch center, people call you when they are at their worst,” Adkins said. “Here on campus, you see people at their best: getting an education and striving to support their family. I feel like I went from making a living to having a profession.”

Many of her years at UC Merced focused on making the campus community more resilient when an emergency or disaster strikes. She put together the campus’s emergency notification system in 2007 after the Virginia Tech mass shooting tragedy.

She was instrumental in developing the UC Merced’s emergency operations plan in 2009 and started the campus’s Building Safety Coordinator program in 2011. She later established the campus’s Live Scan fingerprinting services.

“When something came up, I said I’ll figure out how to do it. I must know somebody who knows somebody that can tell me what the path is for that,” Adkins said.

“I think people often shortchange themselves when they think about joining the campus and they don’t have a degree,” she said. “While education is important, so is experience, knowledge and skills. I didn’t have the paper degree when I got here, and I wondered what that experience feels like.”

It was that curiosity that led Adkins, a first-generation student, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UC Merced while continuing to work full-time.

She amassed the course credits she had completed at several Central Valley community colleges and completed her associate’s degree at Merced College before transferring to UC Merced in 2010. She fulfilled her graduation requirements in December 2014 and participate in the May 2015 commencement ceremony at age 53.

“Our students and their enthusiasm gave me the energy and enthusiasm. In turn, I hope I taught them confidence and to believe in their strengths,” she said.

One highlight over the past two decades was hiring students, especially alumni, as staff. “It’s a joy to hire people,” she said. “Bringing our students in and handing the reigns to them is sustainability.”

Cyenna Maldonado worked for the police department while she was a student, and she was hired as a staff member after graduating in 2024.

“Tamela has been a mentor, leader and steady presence for the UC Merced Police Department,,” Maldonado said. “Her dedication has truly shaped how this department runs. Tamela will be deeply missed, but the foundation she leaves behind is one that this department will continue to grow and build on for years to come.”

What’s next?

Adkins said her husband of nearly 30 years is retired and home by himself when she’s at work, “so he is over the moon” She enjoys gardening on their one-acre lot and has an 18-month-old puppy that will keep her busy.  

As a member of the Merced Breakfast Lions Club for 15 years she will have more time for community service projects, as well as other volunteer work.

“I hope to be able to come back and volunteer at commencement. I’d also like to volunteer at assisted living or long-term care places,” she said.

Adkin’s journey reflects resilience, growth and a passion for both public safety and education.

“Her retirement is bittersweet for the department,” Her said. “We will miss her, her dedication to our organization, her commitment to getting things done right and her steadfast commitment to service.”