UCPD Officer Erik Rakowski goes from classroom to cruiser

Erik Rakowski gets fan letters for tickets he gives to people for infractions.

“I get so many fan letters (for Rakowaski) … being grateful that Erik gave them a ticket,” said university police spokesperson Nancy Greenstein. “They talk about how nice he is and how much they appreciated him.”

Now in his fourth year in the position, Rakowski said his job is to advise students and the UCLA community on how to prevent being the victim of a crime through appropriate education and safety measures.

“I fell in love with law enforcement,” he said. “It was really intriguing for me to come back to a place where I felt comfortable.”

Rakowski said he chose to be involved in UCPD because his cousin was a UCLA student and he was already familiar with the area.

He said he moved to Westwood at the end of his senior year of college, where he found a job at the Tokoloma Summer Day Camp. There he met his wife.

After teaching in Southern California, at the age of 28 Rakowski took a leap of faith and decided to pursue a career out of his area of specialization.

Rakowski asked a close friend, Rey Lara, if he could go on a ride along. He said the experience pushed him to become a patrol officer with UCPD.

“From the ride along he knew he wanted to do it,” Lara said. “He is the kind of person who puts his mind into it something and does it.”

After being a patrol officer for two years, Rakowski said he decided to apply to be the crime prevention officer after he saw the position was open.

As crime prevention officer, Rakowski is in charge of a one-man department that interacts with the UCLA community.

“I thought education and being a police officer were two things that intertwined,” said Rakowaksi, university police’s crime prevention officer. “(Being a crime prevention officer) seemed like a perfect spot for me.”

For example, Rakowski is involved with the West Side Initiative, a program aimed at increasing conversations between UCPD and apartment landlords, to make students’ walks from their apartment to campus safer.

He also sets up quarterly meetings where landlords learn about ways to make their buildings safer.

Aside from doing patrols and working in the field, Rakowski does surveys of the buildings and does presentations about safety for fraternities, sororities and incoming freshmen at orientation.

Aside from working with crime prevention, Rakowski works during UCLA basketball and football games to protect coaches and players alike.

“I’m a big sports guy, so getting the opportunity to work with teams I grew up watching on TV is really cool,” he said.

When he’s not working at UCLA games, he coaches boys’ basketball, soccer and baseball, in addition to his 8-year-old son’s flag football team.

“He is very family oriented, he loves his boys, he pushes them to be best they can be,” Lara said. “He will give you 100 percent. He will push you to be the best.”

Rakowski said he hopes to keep moving up in the ranks at UCPD to eventually become a detective, field training officer or supervisor.

“I want to become as well rounded as an officer as I can,” he said. “Even when you have a bad day you want to make sure that everyone around you is protected and feeling safe.”