Message from Interim Chancellor Guskiewicz on new assistant vice chancellor and chief of UNC Police
David Perry joins Carolina from Florida State University and brings a distinguished 25-year career in law enforcement and campus safety. He has embraced community policing and has demonstrated success in building relationships between campus police and the community.
Dear Campus Community,
I am honored to announce that David L. Perry, a recognized leader in law enforcement and a veteran campus public safety official, will serve as the new assistant vice chancellor and chief of UNC Police. His first day will be Sept. 3. Chief Perry will succeed Jeff McCracken, who retired in July after 30 years of service.
Chief Perry joins us from Florida State University and brings to Carolina a distinguished 25-year career in law enforcement and campus safety. He has embraced community policing and has demonstrated success in building relationships between campus police and the community. Through my many conversations with him, I know he is looking forward to expanding that philosophy at Carolina and is committed to ensuring his department has access to the latest in law enforcement training, education, technology and professional development.
Chief Perry will oversee all law enforcement services at the University. The department currently employs 53 full-time, sworn police officers and provides patrol services to the campus and University-owned properties 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. I want to thank our University police staff who are working very hard every day to keep our campus safe.
One of the priorities in our search was to find someone with a proven track record in community policing and strong experience building communication and trust. During his 14 years with Florida State, Chief Perry introduced several new public safety initiatives including the Adopt-A-Cop program, which fosters relationships between on-campus students and police on safety matters, and the Citizens Police Academy, an education program that provides students and employees with a behind-the-scenes look at the department and how officers respond to calls for service. He led safety operations during three hurricanes and directed the response and recovery during a 2014 active shooter on campus. Chief Perry previously served as deputy chief of police for Clemson University and chief of police at Albany State University.
While in Florida, Chief Perry served as president for the North Florida Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, president for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and past president for the Florida Police Chiefs Association. He is a certified instructor for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Leadership Academy and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and a master’s in public administration from Albany State University.
I am deeply grateful to interim chief of UNC Police Tom Younce, who has been overseeing campus police operations for the past few months. Chief Younce will continue to work with UNC Police in the coming weeks to help ensure a smooth transition.
Chief Perry was selected after a national, highly competitive search that was chaired by Darrell Jeter, director for University Emergency Management and Planning. I wish to thank Darrell for his excellent leadership of this review, which included broad outreach and engagement through forums and meetings with the candidates, as well as the members of the search committee for their long hours and diligent review of each candidate, and the members of the Campus Safety Commission who participated in the process.
I am excited to have such an accomplished campus public safety leader joining Carolina and I am looking forward to introducing David to our community in the very near future.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Interim Chancellor
