Campus looks for new chief of police
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli announced on Sept. 14 in a campus-wide email that two members of the University of Indianapolis Campus Police Department—Chief Mick Reddick and Lt. Jeff Hammond—were no longer with the university.
According to Vitangeli, even though the university police lost two officers, there would be no change in campus safety.
“The most important thing we want to communicate is that the safety of the campus continues to be our priority. That hasn’t changed,” Vitangeli said. “Both of the individuals that are no longer here were serving in administrative positions. So they weren’t out on a daily basis patrolling the campus. So none of that has changed.”
Vitangeli said that the university increased one officer per shift, and some full-time officers also picked up additional administrative responsibilities.
Sgt. Hailey Padgett-Riley agreed to act as interim chief of police. She said that the number of UIPD officers working their shifts, patrolling campus and assisting the campus community has not dropped.
“Nothing has changed in respect to the services we provide,” Padgett-Riley said. “Safety of the students, faculty, staff and visitors is our No. 1 priority—and always has been.”
Padgett-Riley said that she picked up extra duties as interim chief of police.
“Along with my patrol supervision duties, I’ve had to pick up some extra administrative duties that include organization, planning, being on-call 24/7 and decision-making tasks,” she said. “I do, however, have a lot of support from our administrative assistant, Desiree Alfrey; and several of the officers have offered to help if needed.”
According to Vitangeli, a search has begun to fill the position of chief of police.
“Eventually both positions will be filled,” she said. “Right now, we’re concentrating on filling the chief position.”
According to the job posting on the UIndy Human Resources website, minimum qualifications for the position include a bachelor’s degree in a related field, an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy certificate of the equivalent and at least 10 years of progressive law enforcement experience.
The listing also states that a successful candidate will possess strong leadership, communication, interpersonal and organizational skills, and that the candidate should have the ability to work collaboratively on a diverse campus.
Vitangeli said that a committee will be an essential part of the process of hiring a new officer.
“There will be a committee of individuals from around campus representing different campus constituencies,” Vitangeli said. “They will review the applications, narrow down the candidate pool and then bring candidates to campus for the campus to meet.”
According to Vitangeli, the search for the new chief of police will be well publicized, with listings in local media and law publications to speed up the process.
“Ideally, we would have someone hired by the end of the semester. That’s our goal,” Vitangeli said. “It really depends on the amount of applications we get and what they look like.”
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli announced on Sept. 14 in a campus-wide email that two members of the University of Indianapolis Campus Police Department—Chief Mick Reddick and Lt. Jeff Hammond—were no longer with the university.
According to Vitangeli, even though the university police lost two officers, there would be no change in campus safety.
“The most important thing we want to communicate is that the safety of the campus continues to be our priority. That hasn’t changed,” Vitangeli said. “Both of the individuals that are no longer here were serving in administrative positions. So they weren’t out on a daily basis patrolling the campus. So none of that has changed.”
Vitangeli said that the university increased one officer per shift, and some full-time officers also picked up additional administrative responsibilities.
Sgt. Hailey Padgett-Riley agreed to act as interim chief of police. She said that the number of UIPD officers working their shifts, patrolling campus and assisting the campus community has not dropped.
“Nothing has changed in respect to the services we provide,” Padgett-Riley said. “Safety of the students, faculty, staff and visitors is our No. 1 priority—and always has been.”
Padgett-Riley said that she picked up extra duties as interim chief of police.
“Along with my patrol supervision duties, I’ve had to pick up some extra administrative duties that include organization, planning, being on-call 24/7 and decision-making tasks,” she said. “I do, however, have a lot of support from our administrative assistant, Desiree Alfrey; and several of the officers have offered to help if needed.”
According to Vitangeli, a search has begun to fill the position of chief of police.
“Eventually both positions will be filled,” she said. “Right now, we’re concentrating on filling the chief position.”
According to the job posting on the UIndy Human Resources website, minimum qualifications for the position include a bachelor’s degree in a related field, an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy certificate of the equivalent and at least 10 years of progressive law enforcement experience.
The listing also states that a successful candidate will possess strong leadership, communication, interpersonal and organizational skills, and that the candidate should have the ability to work collaboratively on a diverse campus.
Vitangeli said that a committee will be an essential part of the process of hiring a new officer.
“There will be a committee of individuals from around campus representing different campus constituencies,” Vitangeli said. “They will review the applications, narrow down the candidate pool and then bring candidates to campus for the campus to meet.”
According to Vitangeli, the search for the new chief of police will be well publicized, with listings in local media and law publications to speed up the process.
“Ideally, we would have someone hired by the end of the semester. That’s our goal,” Vitangeli said. “It really depends on the amount of applications we get and what they look like.”
