New Malibu Liaison, a familiar face in town, to now be based at the civic center
The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department has just appointed a new Malibu liaison to be a dedicated deputy for the city of Malibu. Sgt. Christopher Soderlund was recently introduced by City Manager Steve McClary to meet the Malibu City Council at their meeting March 27. The 15-year veteran of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has been assigned the last three years to the Malibu/Lost Hills station. He was promoted to sergeant six years ago. Prior to his Malibu assignment, Soderlund worked in the Los Angeles County jail system in the custody division.
Since being assigned to Malibu, Soderlund has worked all the facets of the station.
“I’ve done pretty much everything there is to do here,” said the 38-year-old.
Sgt. Soderlund has been a patrol sergeant, the watch sergeant, and the full-time watch commander for the past six months. And for the past three years, he has been working on the beach team as well.
As the LASD Malibu liaison, Soderlund will work closely with the community. Now that the Malibu sheriff’s sub-station is about to open adjacent to the new Santa Monica College Malibu campus, Soderlund will actually be stationed in the heart of the community.
He describes his new position as “the go-between for the city, the community, and the department.” It’s a direct contact he said for the community to the Sheriff’s station; a liaison for “the community to bring issues to.”
As the Malibu liaison, the sergeant said, “I can direct our deputies to take care of those issues and streamline the situation and the communication between the city and the department. I’m now dedicated fully to Malibu.”
Before his promotion, Soderlund covered the entire area served by the Malibu/Lost Hills station, including Calabasas, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills.
“Now Malibu has my undivided attention so I can focus my entire work week on collaborating with the city,” he said.
Soderlund hit the ground running since his appointment just two weeks ago, attending a Malibu City Council meeting where he was officially introduced. Expect to see the sergeant at Malibu Public Safety Commission meetings (still virtually conducted) and many other city functions.
One exciting event coming up is the ribbon-cutting ceremony April 22 for the new sheriff’s sub-station at the SMC Malibu campus. Soderlund sees this as a great new opportunity to engage with the community.
“For the longest time there was a substation here until about 25 years ago. Then for years the deputies would have to deploy out of the station up at Lost Hills and drive down here (to Malibu),” he said. “It’s going to be a good opportunity to get the new substation up and running and streamline that and the community will be able to come into the front desk and talk to a deputy face-to-face and make a report there. They don’t have to wait for a deputy to drive all the way down from the station up here. So, it’s going to be a good opportunity and interesting to implement that.”
Asked what he likes about working in Malibu Soderlund replied, “The people there are very friendly. They support us wholeheartedly. They love the Sheriff’s Department and the feeling’s mutual. The deputies who work in Malibu are dedicated down there. And, obviously it’s the scenery. You get paid to drive around Pacific Coast Highway and see the ocean. For Malibu personally for me, I’ve been here three years now so I’m looking forward to the challenge in heading up the Malibu substation.”
The new liaison has been married for nearly eight years to a nurse, and they have two young daughters. He described himself as an avid mountain biker who loves the outdoors and enjoying outside activities with his family.
“I’ve very excited,” he said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity, and I look forward to being out and about in the community and meeting everybody and working together to make sure that everyone’s safe and healthy.”