UALR has recently appointed a longtime Oklahoma police officer as the Department of Public Safety’s new director/chief, ending a nationwide search that began last fall, according to university officials.

Smith

The university announced Feb. 12 in a news release that Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Bob Adams had recently hired Edward L. Smith of Shawnee, Okla., as the university’s director of public safety and campus chief. Smith is slated to assume the position March 18, relieving Regina Wade-Carter. Carter has served as interim director/chief since the Aug. 31, 2012 resignation of former Chief Brad King, who worked for the university for more than 12 years.

“We are especially pleased to have attracted a new Director of Public Safety with the background and credentials of Mr. Smith,” Adams said. “He will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our campus police department.”

At his new job, Smith will earn an annual salary of $78,000, he said.

Smith currently works as a human resources instructor and director of the Collegiate Officer Program at East Central University in Ada, Okla, according to the school’s website. Smith has more than 35 years of experience in law enforcement and has worked as police chief in eight different Oklahoma cities: Seminole, Clinton, Blackwell, Owasso, Bethany, Chickasha and two others.

“As division commander for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Police Department in 2000 to 2001, Smith was responsible for the implementation of the Incident Command System during major events and in the development of security and traffic control procedures for all special and athletic events held on campus,” according to the news release. “He worked with the Secret Service, the FBI, and international law enforcement officials when dignitaries were on campus. He also managed, organized, and directed all departmental training and development, recruitment and selection of agency personnel, and crime prevention.”

Smith is an inductee of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials, according to the ECU website.

He has earned three law-related college degrees: his associate’s degree in political science from Seminole State College in Seminole, Okla; his bachelor’s degree in professional law enforcement from Oklahoma City University; and a masters degree in criminal justice administration, also from Oklahoma City University. Smith is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.

“[Smith] assuming the UALR police chief position is further evidence of the commitment the university has for ensuring that campus safety remains an extremely high priority and that we are able to attract law enforcement leaders of the highest caliber,” Adams said.

Other distinguished honors of Smith’s include two appointments by former Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry to the Board of the Office of Juvenile Affairs, and an appointment by former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating to the Oklahoma State Board of Investigation’s Board of Commissioners, according to the ECU website.