Rusty Pyle was promoted to chief of police after serving as interim chief since spring.
Pyle officially became chief July 1 and was recognized July 17 at a pinning and swearing-in ceremony.
“The position was open, and the university had the confidence in me to pick up the job and do what needs to be done,” Pyle said. “It’s a learning process, and you pick up more as you go.”
He said he felt his previous experiences working in law enforcement helped him prepare for his new role.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for almost 49 years,” Pyle said. “The position of chief of police is new for me, but as far as working in law enforcement, it’s not new at all.”
Previously, Pyle served as supervisor for the Oklahoma City Police Department, and undersheriff for Grady County Police Department. Before being named chief, Pyle had served as lieutenant, and later, assistant police chief for the OCU Police Department.
Pyle said dealing with severe weather threats has been a challenge.
“The spring always brings extra workload because of the weather,” Pyle said. “However, we are prepared to handle that. I think everything went well.”
Pyle said the department received positive feedback on its handling of severe weather drills and alerts during the Maymester period.
“We put out timely weather warnings on a regular basis,” Pyle said. “We even put some out for heat advisories. We were very cautious.”
Brianna Williams, acting junior, said the weather notifications were efficient for the first half of Maymester, but were not quite as reliable when severe weather threats became increasingly common.
“For the first half, it was really good,” Williams said. “Eventually, we started having to cancel classes due to the weather, and we wouldn’t always know what was going on right away.”
Williams said she was concerned about students not knowing what specific weather threats meant and what precautions they needed to take.
“We have so many students from all over the country who may be confused, so I wish they would be clearer about what we need to do and where to go.”
Hannah Boyens, film/music senior, said she felt most of the alerts were issued in a timely manner.
“Of course, people around me figured out the weather was bad, but I always got a Blue Alert around the same time,” Boyens said. “I didn’t feel like I was unsafe, or cheated by it or anything.”
Williams said one severe weather warning was not issued until after the weather had already passed.
“There was a really long lag with figuring out what was going on,” Williams said. “There was a lot of confusion, and it took a while for them to tell us what was damaged.”
Boyens was also present at the time the weather hit.
“It worries me that the first notification of danger I got was from a friend rather than OCUPD,” she said. “The response time could have been sooner. By the time the alert went out, everyone was already in the basement.”
Williams said she hopes campus police can give suggestions on what weather apps or channels would be beneficial for students and faculty.
“It was frustrating because we got an email saying we shouldn’t rely on OCUPD to tell us the weather, but a lot of us don’t know which weather sources are accurate. So, really, we do depend on them,” Williams said. “It would be nice if we could get that information ourselves and all be on the same page.”
Pyle said he has many goals aimed at improving the police department and its presence on campus.
“I don’t know if every goal is attainable, but there’s a lot we are currently working on,” he said.
Pyle said he hopes to add additional campus police officers and equip them with newer, more efficient body armor.
“We currently have nine positions, and I would like to increase that as much as possible and get more officers together on campus at one time,” he said.
Williams said she wants to see more police presence on campus.
“It would be nice to actually see them on campus, in case we need them, instead of being parked in their cars or driving around,” Williams said. “I feel like I always see them driving or pulling people over, yet when I’m walking back from the library at night, they’re never around. It would be really assuring to see them at times like that.”
Boyens said she hopes the campus police will strive to pay more attention to student and faculty concerns.
“Listen to us when we have problems,” Boyens said. “Lots of people have had issues with that. They have never felt listened to. However, I think that’s something the police department is trying to improve on, and I appreciate that.”
Pyle asks that questions and suggestions be sent through SchoolDude at myschoolbuilding.com before emailing or calling him or campus police.
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