Director of Public Safety

If youre looking for a great job in a positive environment, this is the job for you! Grand Canyon University currently has over 17,000 students at its beautiful, vibrant campus in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. If you see yourself making a difference at GCU, wed like to hear from you!

Grand Canyon University is seeking a Director of Public Safety to provide highly responsible and complex administrative direction to a growing department of over 200 which includes sworn and non-sworn officers and management and administrative staff. The Director will provide leadership, direction and expertise in the development and execution of comprehensive programs to ensure the safety, security and protection of the University staff, students and assets.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Ensures operating philosophy of law enforcement and campus safety aligns with the Christian mission and culture of the University.
• Ensures infrastructure and staffing are sufficient to support parking operations, security for campus events, emergency communications (dispatch), and law enforcement and campus safety.
• Ensures public safety managers effectively manage the public safety sworn officers, non- sworn officers and administrative staff to carry out their daily responsibilities in providing campus safety and protection.
• Provides effective leadership and management of all public safety personnel; establishes appropriate observation and feedback channels to ensure agile department response and changes in operational procedures as needed.
• Provides law enforcement expertise and advice to University executive leadership on matters related to the safety and security of the institution, policies and administrative issues and challenges.
• Establishes training and safety program to ensure all public safety personnel are skilled in enforcing safety and protection on a daily basis; establishes effective monitoring and feedback mechanisms to evaluate effectiveness of programs and staff.
• Establishes effective working relationship with local police, fire, emergency departments, federal agencies and neighborhood associations and equips designated public safety managers to maintain the relationships.
• Maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of higher education laws and guidelines related to campus safety and security, safety codes, first aid, safety officer procedures, state and federal regulations pertaining to occupational and student safety and security, city and county ordinances, and criminal law.
• Manage and oversee all activities related to the Universitys full compliance and administration of all Jeanne Cleary Act regulations and programs to ensure the University is in full compliance.
• Manage and oversee all activities related to the Universitys emergency preparedness plans and programs ensuring that all aspects of campus activity are covered by comprehensive and actionable steps to respond to and prepare for emergency situations and events.
• Manage and oversee all dispatch functions and related emergency communications
• Manage and oversee parking operations for employee, student and campus guests, including parking enforcement and issuing written citations.
• Manage and oversee security functions involving NCAA events and special (concert) events at venues including a 7,000 seat arena, 3,500 seat soccer stadium and 3,200 seat baseball stadium.
• Drive continuous improvement of divisional performance through analysis and the development and implementation of sound management/administrative practices and procedures, provide management staff with direction and guidance, processes and tools to increase efficiencies and improve effectiveness of services provided.
• Evaluate capacity of department to respond to catastrophic events, either criminal or natural in origin.
• Responsible for the effective development and management of all related operating budgets, expenses, and operational standards; establishes long term operational plan and its accompanying operational expenses.
• Authorizes release of crime and emergency alerts as appropriate and act as responsible authority for the Department in emergency response situations.
• Participates on all university committees where protection and safety of university students, staff, public and facilities are discussed; provides knowledge expertise to ensure adequate security.
• Ensures all public safety staff understand the procedures and guidelines to prevent legal exposure and risk.
• Ensures all required law enforcement regulations for serving as a university police department are in place.
• Manage required procedures relative to hiring of sworn and non-sworn officers, e.g., AZ post certification and liaises with GCU Human Resources staff to ensure effective management and retention of official documents.
• Ensures all criminal investigations are conducted according to federal and state statutes by all public safety personnel; implements corrective actions where needed to ensure compliance.
• Ensures effective procedures in record keeping, incident logs and reports, accurate logging of incidents according to federal and state regulations, e.g., Cleary reportable incidents, housing of lost and found property, chain of evidence record keeping; ensures all public safety staff are knowledgeable of procedures.
• Participates in local and regional safety/security organizations, conferences and seminars to stay adequately informed about campus security issues, changes in emergency response procedures and regulations and applicable security laws and guidelines.
• Required to be present for all emergency situations and or large special events.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree from an accredited college/university in criminal justice, police science, public administration, political science or similar discipline or successful graduation from an accredited law enforcement training academy.
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible management and administrative experience in law enforcement, e.g., must have achieved at least Captain or Assistant Director management level.
• Must currently be certified as a law enforcement officer in good standing. Must be able to be AZ Post Certified within 6 months of employment which means being able to pass agency hiring process which includes physical ability testing, psychological testing, medical exams and background/investigation checking.
• Must be committed to the values of shared governance and maintain a philosophy of providing friendly, knowledgeable service and assistant to the campus community and surrounding areas.
• Provide a positive example to students by supporting the Universitys Doctrinal Statement, Ethical Position Statement and Mission of Grand Canyon University.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters Degree in criminal justice, police science, public administration, or other related discipline.
• Prior experience in a university police department in a city environment of over 250,000 people.
• Held responsible positions in the area of emergency management plan development and execution.
• Minimum of five years progressively responsible management experience in public safety department (either police department or corporate public safety department.