CU Boulder Chief of Police being sworn in on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Camryn Montgomery/CU Independent)
CU Boulder’s new chief of police, Ashley Griffin, was sworn in on Friday, Sept. 26, at the Boulder Municipal Court.
Griffin has 20 years of law enforcement experience and previously worked as the assistant chief of police at the University of Texas at Austin. While she said the two campuses share a lot of similarities, she noted that CU Boulder is more laid-back and less fast-paced than Austin.
During her trip to Boulder for her interview in March, Griffin said she was taken aback by the views, mountains and values of the community.
“Austin thinks that they’re a bike town. They are not a bike town compared to this town,” Griffin said.
Griffin holds a master’s degree in public safety and is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, according to CU’s website.
In her new role as chief of police, Griffin’s priorities are de-escalation, mental health training and recruiting a diverse workforce that reflects the community.
Griffin noted that mental health struggles often arise between the ages of 18 and 25, and emphasized the importance of having officers trained to deal with those types of crises to, “deescalate that before anything escalates,” Griffin said.
Another thing Griffin is passionate about is “relational policing.”
“That’s where police departments are trying to build more of a deeper relationship with their community partners so that they’re working together and they’re able to reach out directly to me,” Griffin said.
Joining the CU Police Department in July, Griffin said in the last few months she has been trying to meet with various campus partners and let everyone get to know her.
“You never want someone’s first time to meet you when something bad happens,” Griffin said. “My approach into policing is just trying to meet people where they are, just having that human connection and just trying to relate and be on the same level that they are.”
Contact CU Independent Assistant News Editor Camryn Montgomery at camryn.montgomery@colorado.edu
