After several months of searching, a committee at Boston University will select a new chief for BU Police Department next week, members of the search committee said.
Peter Fielder, the vice president of administrative services and the chair of the search committee, said the committee has narrowed their search from the initial 19 candidates down to three, and he expects to make an offer for the position by next week.
Fielder said the committee was looking for a candidate with both a great depth and breadth of experience.
“They had to be accomplished public safety and police department leaders, they had to have some experience with the type of environment which we are in here, which is an urban environment, you know, the city of Boston,” Fielder said. “They had to be the kind of people that are going to work well with our force.”
Fielder and his colleagues used the Police Executive Research Forum to select qualified candidates. The Washington D.C.-based agency sent them the initial 19 candidates based on their qualifications.
Fielder said PERF is not usually used in hiring processes, but was very helpful in filling the role of chief.
“We had a great search process,” Fielder said. “PERF is sort of nationally recognized as being some of the most informed thinkers in terms of modern policing, both within a municipality as well as on college campuses, and we’ve used PERF before when we hired [Robbins,] who left in September, we brought PERF in to help us in this search.”
BUPD Former Chief Tom Robbins stepped down from the position in October, meanwhile, Former Deputy Chief Scott Paré will fill in for Robbins as acting executive director of public safety and chief of police, The Daily Free Press reported on Oct. 19.
Amy Shanler, a professor at the College of Communication and a member of the search committee, said the most important quality to her in a new chief should be someone who makes students feel safer on campus.
“A person who will be an important leader in establishing relationships right from the get-go,” Shanler said. “When students and parents first come here, when they’re here on campus and interacting with the surrounding community, and as they go out into the world beyond, they’ll feel that the police chief has been an important part of their life having established a safe environment for them during their college years.”
Fielder added that although an offer will be made in the next week, the new chief might not be hired immediately. However, as soon as a new hire is set in place, BUPD will make a public statement announcing who will fill the role.
Shanler said no matter who the new chief is, they will have a big impact on BU.
“Any transition is an opportunity for change,” Shanler said. “I can’t predict the future, but I see it as an opportunity.”
Several students suggested changes to the current operations of BUPD that could come with the new chief. Some students were confused about the duties of BUPD.
Sonali Desai, a junior in the Questrom School of Business, said she wasn’t familiar with BUPD’s role on campus.
“I have no clue what they do,” Desai said. “And I don’t want to have more interaction with them.”
Miosotti Tenecora, a first-year student in the School of Law, said the BU alert system should be an area of focus for the new chief.
“Less alerts, or more concise alerts,” Tenecora said. “Instead of the way they alert — [alerting] with emergencies — sometimes its rapid like that.”
Meng Zheng, a junior in the College of General Studies, said BUPD should communicate more with students.
“[BUPD] should maybe be more transparent about what they are doing,” Zheng said. “Because we don’t know what they are doing.”
