Walter Allen III, Police Academy Director
Walter Allen has been in the law enforcement profession for more than 43 years and is a graduate of 172nd Session of the FBI National Academy. Walter began his law enforcement career as a police officer at Cal State Fullerton University Police Department and within a year and a half he was hired as a Police Officer for Chino Police Department. During his time at Chino PD, Walter served as a police Field Training Officer, patrol corporal and Sharpshooter for the Department’s SWAT Team.
In 1981, he continued his law enforcement career with the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement as a Special Agent. He worked in an undercover capacity for seven years, was promoted and served as Special Agent Supervisor, Special Agent in Charge, Senior Special Agent in Charge and Assistant Chief for the Department over 22 years.
In 2003, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Walter as Director of the California Youth Authority (CYA), at that time, the largest juvenile correctional system in the nation, housing and supervising over 10,000 juvenile offenders throughout out the state and managing over 5,000 employees, with an operating budget of over four hundred million dollars.
In 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Walter Allen as the Assistant Secretary of the newly created Office of Correctional Safety (OCS) for the newly reorganized California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). OCS provides oversight to all law enforcement, safety, and security issues in all state run youth and adult correctional prison facilities throughout the state. Additionally, OCS was also tasked with apprehending prison escapee’s and arresting criminal high-risk parolees in communities throughout California. In this role, Walt was also charged with consolidating virtually all law enforcement components within the department, which included major criminal investigative units, fugitive apprehension teams, criminal intelligence operations, gang interdiction, special investigations, and departmental safety and security operations within the California state prison system.
In November 2009, Walter was appointed to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) by Governor Schwarzenegger and also served as a Deputy Commissioner for the Board of Parole Hearings through June of 2013. He is currently serving a fifth term on the Covina City Council and has served as the Covina Mayor on four separate occasions. Walter still finds the time to continue serving as a board member for Ettie Lee Youth and Family Services, as a former President and current Executive Board member of California Narcotic Officers’ Association, a Board member of the WeTip, Inc. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Citrus Valley Health Partners, which provides oversight of three not-for-profit hospitals: Queen of the Valley, Intercommunity, Foothill Presbyterian and the Citrus Valley Hospice facility in the East San Gabriel Valley. Walter also serves as a member of the Metrolink Board of Directors and the League of California Cities Public Safety Committee.
Walter possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree in Urban Planning and Master of Science Degree in Law Enforcement Executive Leadership. For leisure, one of Walter’s primary hobbies has been competitive Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clay shooting, which he’s done for more than forty years. Walt also enjoys snow skiing, golf, riding his road bike and his Harley.
Kurt Norwood, Fire Academy Director
Chief Norwood began his career as a full-time firefighter with the Arcadia Fire Department in 1987 and he became a licensed paramedic in 1990. Over the course of the next 30 years Chief Norwood worked varied assignments and divisions and ultimately rising to the rank of Fire Chief in 2014, a position he held until his retirement from the City of Arcadia in 2016. Since his retirement from Arcadia he has also served as Fire Chief for the cities of Montebello and Sierra Madre.
Chief Norwood has an Associates Degree in Fire Technology from El Camino College, a Bachelor’s Degree from CSU Los Angeles in Fire Protection Administration, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from CSU Los Angeles. Chief Norwood is a graduate of the Rio Hondo College Fire Academy.
Chief Norwood has an extensive background in training and education. He has been a part of the Rio Hondo College Adjunct Faculty since 2002 and is certified to teach various California State Fire Marshall courses in Command, Operations, Management and Leadership and other areas. Currently Chief Norwood is the Director of the Rio Hondo Fire Academy and Fire Technology/EMT programs.
