Serving others was always in Eladio Acuna’s future. After graduating from UC Irvine with a BA in Humanities/Bilingual Ed/Spanish and a BS in Biology, Eladio originally planned to attend medical school and become a doctor. During his studies at UC Irvine, Eladio worked for the UCI Police Department as a Community Service Officer for four years and later worked three years as a Public Service Officer at the UCI Medical Center thus opening the door to a possible law enforcement career.
Working closely with the Police Department, Eladio became involved with the UCI community and believed strongly in the community oriented policing philosophy the UCI Police Department embraces. The Chief of Police at the time, Michael Mitchell saw potential in Eladio and encouraged him to apply for an open Police Officer position. Eladio enjoyed his experiences as a CSO and PSO and believed in the program and mission of the UCI Police Department, so he applied and was hired in 1990.
When considering your career, Eladio believes you should keep your options open. You may have intentions to follow one path but find your calling in another. He was planning to go to medical school, but now is a Sergeant and has been serving the UCI community for over 20 years. Being able to help people is his favorite part of the job because as he says, “It’s a university officer’s responsibility to make the campus a safe environment for students, staff and visitors.”
If you would like to know more about the law enforcement profession or about becoming a Police Officer, please feel free to email Sergeant Acuna at eacuna@uci.edu.
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