University of Iowa names fourth finalist for public safety director

IOWA CITY - The fourth and final candidate in the running to fill the University of Iowa public safety director vacancy is on campus Thursday and Friday, with administrators hoping to hire someone by the end of June.

Scott Beckner, director of public safety at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, is among the finalists vying to replace former UI public safety Director Chuck Green, who retired in January 2015.

One of the other four candidates was in Iowa City earlier this week, and the prior two candidates visited in each of the past two weeks.

Beckner has been director of public safety and chief of police at Georgia College and State University since 2011, managing 20 police officers along with seven civilian and 10 student employees. Before that he served as police chief for Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.V., and in a variety of roles - including lieutenant, detective, and sergeant - for the Michigan State University police department in East Lansing.

He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice, along with a law degree, from Michigan State University. He's also been trained as a professional emergency manager and at the FBI National Academy.

Douglas Tripp, head of safety and security for Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Fla., visited the UI campus earlier this week as the third named finalist. Adam Garcia, director of police services at the University of Nevada in Reno, Nev., visited before him. Marc Cossich, executive director of public safety and chief of police at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, was the first named candidate.

The person chosen for the UI job will manage the campus' public safety program serving 32,000-some students, more than 22,000 faculty and staff, and thousands of daily visitors. The UI Department of Public Safety director reports to Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Rod Lehnertz and oversees about 75 employees - including 25 police officers and 19 security officers.

Dave Visin had been serving as interim public safety director until March, when news broke of his alleged interference with a Johnson County Sheriff's Office investigation of his stepson, Sean Crane.

According to an incident report, Visin on June 25 drove Crane away from a deputy who was investigating a hit-and-run. Authorities had arrived at Crane's house to investigate the collision moments after Crane left in a car with Visin, according to the report.

When a deputy called Visin on his cell and asked him to pull over, Visin refused, according to the deputy. Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness met with Visin and Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek shortly after the incident and decided against filing charges.

Lyness also addressed the matter with Lehnertz, who did not remove Visin from him position because he wasn't facing criminal charges and didn't violate university policies. Lehnertz decided to replace Visin with UI police chief Lucy Wiederholt in March, after news broke of the Visin incident, to allow the department 'to remain focused on the work of creating a safe environment for our students, faculty, and staff.”

Green, in his last year full year as UI public safety director, earned a salary of $182,664, according to state records. Visin, in his interim role, was making $125,233, state records show.