Jim Redman, Grossmont College, A.A. Administration of Justice, 1999

El Cajon Police Chief Jim Redman believes Grossmont College changed his life.

His parents wanted him to go to college after high school, but he had a different plan. He went to work for a pest control company, attended vocational classes and became a manager. That’s when he realized there was no future for him in pest control. He responded to an advertisement and two months later he was working for the El Cajon Police Department.

“I had found my career and I worked my way up through patrol and detective, but I wanted a promotion and to take the sergeant’s exam,” he said. “I looked at the criteria and you needed an associate’s degree, which I didn’t have. Thank goodness there was Grossmont College. I attended classes and it took me two years, but two weeks after I graduated, I was promoted to sergeant. I used that same degree to work my way up to chief.”

Redman is now going back to college for a bachelor’s degree. “Continuing education is important and I want to set an example for the troops.”

“Grossmont was great. The campus was easy to navigate. The instructors were fantastic,” Redman said.

His wife, Roxanne, also graduated from Grossmont and still takes cooking classes at the college. All three of his children graduated from Grossmont.

“It’s our family college,” he said. “It’s a great school. You know those plaques with a picture of the dean giving you your diploma? We have five of those.”