Students and officials met with the two finalist candidates for the campus police chief last week.
The Chief of Police Search Committee recommended the two candidates out of 32 applicants after months of a national search authorized by President Martha Burger.
The police chief position became vacant Sept. 9 after former Police Chief Rusty Pyle resigned. Sergeant Mark LaHue filled the position as interim police chief until Bill Citty was hired to be the interim director of campus police.
The finalist candidates for the position are Major Dexter Nelson and Dr. Kevin Gillilan. The candidates visited campus Jan. 15 and 16 to meet with administrators and to participate in student and faculty forums.
Luisa Torres and Leondre Lattimore were the two students chosen to participate in the search process.
Lattimore, studio art senior, said the candidates’ interaction with students will play a prominent factor in the final selection.
“One of my roles on the committee was to make sure that students’ interests were always being considered,” he said.
Lattimore said the candidate’s interaction with the students and student’s feedback will help the committee decide on a recommendation to President Burger. Burger will have the final say in determining the chief.
“This is the body that they’ll be protecting, so their opinions should be a top priority,” Lattimore said.
The candidates were chosen because of their administrative experience, communication skills and an ability to work with a diverse group of people, Citty said.
“If you’re going to find the right chief, it has to be a person that shows some humility. If they don’t, they won’t be good listeners,” Citty said. “Right now, I think we’ve found candidates that meet those requirements.”
Nelson is a major at the Oklahoma City Police Department and has worked in law enforcement for 32 years.
During the forum, Nelson said he has experience facilitating conversations about diversity and race within the community. When asked with how he would handle discrimination on campus, Nelson said he would train officers to look into every incident of racial bias as well as communicate their actions to students.
“We are teaching officers to slow down, stop and explain when time allows,” he said.
Nelson developed pamphlets in the OKC police department called,
“Interacting with Oklahoma City Police: What You Should Know” informing people of their rights and how to act when approached by a police officer.
“I want to convey to students the do’s and don’ts of keeping you safe,” he said.
Nelson said he wants to develop trust and communication between campus police and students.
“I want the officers to understand your perspective and you to understand theirs and to get you both on the same sheet of music, so we know why things are being done,” Nelson said. “If you have a problem and you think something is biased, for whatever reason, we can sit down and talk about that, we can explain both sides, and come to a consensus.”
Nelson said he would be committed to the university if he was given the position.
“I don’t plan on having another job after this one,” Nelson said.
Shakurah Maynard, graphic design senior, said she wants students to have consistency and safety on campus with the next police chief.
“I like his confidence about staying in the position,” Maynard said.
Lattimore said he appreciated that Nelson seemed willing to accept criticism.
“I think it was great that he decided to ask them what they expected of him as chief. That’s a great step in the right direction because it shows transparency, and it shows that he’s willing to learn,” Lattimore said.
Gillilan is the police chief at the University of North Alabama and has been in law enforcement for 24 years.
During the forum, Gillilan gave examples of his administrative experience and training others in law enforcement.
“Of all the tools that I’ve had in my toolbelt over the years, communication, or the ability to communicate, is one of the greatest,” he said.
When asked by a student how he could relate to OCU’s diverse population without being a person of color, Gillilan said he could never fully relate to it, but he has experience serving as the police chief at a historically black college and welcomes learning and understanding.
“I learned more during that year than probably the rest of my career about disadvantage, about hardship,” he said. “I thought I knew hardship. I thought I knew what it was like to struggle.”
Gillilan said he wants to relate to students and help them feel more comfortable around police officers.
“I’ve done everything from have pies thrown in my face, to spending time in a dunking booth, because I do take what I do seriously, and I’m very passionate about it, but I don’t take myself so seriously that I can’t have a good time,” he said.
Gillilan said he would meet regularly with student groups, hold educational forums for students and keep an open-door policy.
Maynard said she appreciates that Gillilan has had experience with historically black college and universities.
“Even though he may not completely understand the kind of things that I go through, I know that he can handle them in a way that I feel respected and somewhat understood, better than what we’ve had so far,” she said.
Reid Powell, political science sophomore, said Gillilan could help fix the infrastructure at OCU.
“I loved his personability, being able to relate to students, and it’s really obvious that at the past university he was at, he made it his goal to make sure students were first, which I think is so important,” he said.
Alex Rogers, campus police officer, said he appreciates that students have been involved with the selection process.
“The university has done a good job,” Rogers said. “They haven’t rushed the process; they’ve taken their time, sat down and figured out what our needs are, and they’re searching for someone that’s going to meet those needs.”
Contributing: Web Editor Luke Barrett
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