Published Friday, August 11th, 2017
Paul Stella holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Wayne State.
Paul Stella ’94, a criminal justice graduate and basketball alumnus of Wayne State College, has approximately 19 years of law enforcement experience and is a lieutenant for the Rialto Police Department in Rialto, Calif. Stella began his law enforcement career in 1996 with the Los Angeles Police Department and was hired by the Rialto Police Department in 2001.
Stella has worked a variety of assignments, including patrol, gangs, the Narcotics Unit, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Task Force as an officer, Investigations Division, and the SWAT Team. He has also supervised patrol teams and the Investigations Division and is currently in charge of patrol division, SWAT Team, and K-9 Unit, and is the Press Information Officer.
Influential in creating a number of department “firsts,” Stella helped create the Cold Case Homicide Unit, which has solved six previously unresolved homicides. He also created the department’s Awards Program, SWAT Tactical Explosive Breaching, and “Request-A-Training,” a training partnership between the police department and the community.
Stella is a former “Officer of the Year” and was part of a SWAT entry team honored with a National Valor Award for successfully rescuing a hostage from an armed gunman. He has also developed and executed numerous large-scale operations and nuisance abatements that improved the community’s quality of life.
Stella has a master’s degree in emergency services administration, graduating with honors, and is a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute, class No. 380. He is also a member of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, American Investigative Society of Cold Cases, California Homicide Investigators Association, California Narcotics Officers Association, National Tactical Officers Association, and the International Association of Undercover Officers.