Public Safety reorganizes

     The Public Safety Department has made changes in the past three weeks that GCSU believes will make the department more effective.
     The main changes are the announcements that David   Groseclose was promoted from interim director to assistant vice president for Public Safety, Administrative Services and Special Projects, and Joe Grant was promoted from lieutenant to major.
     “(The changes) have gone very well,” Groseclose said.
Groseclose had served as interim director since Ken Vance, the former director, left in August of 2007.
     “The change is mostly to make my title permanent,” Groseclose said. “The Public Safety aspect of my title is very pertinent.”
     While Groseclose does not have a background in police work, he has been in administration for over 20 years at GCSU.
     “I’m not a certified officer or anything,” Groseclose said. “What they’re looking at, is that this department needed an administrator – someone familiar with the budget. We have the police people to do that part, and I’m just here to make sure we don’t go over budget and stuff like that.”
     That is where Grant steps in.
     Grant’s promotion places him in charge of patrol and investigative officers and the dispatch operators.
     “I’m assuming the role that the former deputy director had in the position,” Grant said. “It’s been reclassified. It’s not going to be deputy director anymore, it’s more like a deputy chief, where I will carry the rank of major – showing that I’m higher up in rank than the patrol officers and stuff like that.”
Groseclose believes Grant will do well in the role.
     “He’s a good leader,” Groseclose said. “The officers respect him. He’s ready for this.”
     Another role Grant will serve in is chief executive officer of Operations within the Public Safety Department, which puts him in charge of day-to-day activities in the department.
     “That (position) pretty much handles all the law enforcement side of it,” Grant said. “I already had about half the department under me,” he said. “Now everything is under me. Of course I answer to (Groseclose), who is the immediate supervisor. The duties right now haven’t changed that much because I am still having to do the lieutenant position and the major’s position, so I’ve just added on a lot more responsibilities.”
Grant said the transition has gone well.
     “I think (the school) is just trying to simplify us and reclassify us,” Grant said. “(Groseclose) and I see it going well.”
     The department will continue to strive to keep this campus safe.
     “We’re here to do the best we can to keep this a safe place for all the students to study and have a good time – as long as they don’t get in trouble,” Grant said. “They just can’t break the law.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 18 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry