College police chief from Euclid shares views on YSU job

YOUNGSTOWN

Jeffrey Scott, chief of police at Notre Dame College in South Euclid and seeking the top cop job at Youngstown State University, says two major areas of concern for him are threat preparation and the growing presence of cybercrime.

“These things exist,” Scott said. “How are we educating our students to keep them safe?”

Scott took questions and spoke to 30 people Wednesday during one of three open forums for finalists to be the YSU police chief.

The position has been open since the former chief, John Beshara, was placed on administrative leave in April 2016. The university had questions about Beshara’s use of his work vehicle and said it would not renew his contract. He retired May 31.

The university’s size drew Scott to YSU. Notre Dame College has an enrollment of about 2,000 students; YSU has about 12,500 students. Scott said a larger campus is more attractive to him than moving to a municipality.

“My focus is college campus policing,” he said. “I’ve really fallen in love with it.”

Campus policing creates opportunities for community engagement, Scott said, whether through helping students to classes or opening buildings for faculty.

Scott said it’s important to build trust between the police and the campus community.

Read more about his philosophies in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.