Message from Provost Blouin and Vice Chancellor Pruitt on Chief Jeff McCracken

Dear Carolina Community,

We write to share the news that Jeff B. McCracken, director of public safety and UNC police chief, has announced his intention to retire after 30 years of creditable service to Carolina and the State of North Carolina. He will depart his office July 1, 2019.

Jeff has worked tirelessly to maintain a safe campus environment. Respected not only by his police force, he is highly regarded by peers in law enforcement at all levels of government. Jeff joined the department in 1993 as an investigator and rose through the ranks, becoming operations major in 1997, and deputy director in 1998. He was appointed interim director in March 2007, and sworn in as chief of police in August of the same year. A North Carolina native, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University, and a master’s in public administration from NC State University.

As chief, Jeff was instrumental in the development and implementation of Alert Carolina, which greatly enhanced the University’s efforts to communicate emergencies and other situations affecting the safety and health of our community. He was also responsible for major enhancements to the University’s approach to emergency management preparedness, including establishment of the emergency management director position, facilitation of University-wide emergency preparedness tabletop exercises and implementation of regular safety drills.

Jeff’s legacy is a safer Carolina, and the establishment of strong and lasting collaborative relationships with our neighboring communities and regional first responders. Please join us in thanking Jeff for his decades of dedicated service to Carolina and wishing him well in retirement and all future endeavors.

A national search for a chief of police will start immediately.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Blouin 
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor 

Jonathan Pruitt 
Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations