BUPD Recruits Former Airport Security Chief for New Position
Scott Pare to be BU’s first deputy director of public safety
The Boston University Police Department has hired Scott Pare, a former State Police officer who served as the director of security at Boston’s Logan Airport, as the new deputy director of public safety at Boston University.
The position was created in anticipation of new campuswide safety initiatives that will be developed as a result of the shootings at Virginia Tech last April, says Thomas Robbins, BUPD chief of police, and in preparation for the opening of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) on the University’s Medical Campus. The NEIDL is under construction on Albany Street in the South End and is scheduled to be completed late this year.
“In light of the tragic events at Virginia Tech, we’ve been charged with taking a whole new look at how we protect our students, faculty, and staff,” Robbins says. “And with the advent of the biosafety lab, it makes sense to look at the campus with a fresh set of eyes, from someone who is an expert at this.”
The BUPD is currently working with the University’s senior administrators to refine the emergency notification system for students, faculty, and staff that was put in place last semester.
Pare, who holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass., served with the State Police for 27 years; for the last four, he was the troop commander and director of aviation security at Logan Airport. Robbins says Pare’s experience at Logan gives him the background in both law enforcement and management that the BU position requires. “We wanted someone who has an understanding of policing and security and can bring that expertise here and hit the ground running,” he says. “We also needed strong management skills, and Pare not only oversaw a contingent of police officers, but civilian personnel as well.”
Pare says the challenge of reassessing the University’s security needs and implementing new procedures made the position appealing. “Obviously, providing security for the number of students here is going to be an interesting task,” he says. “BU isn’t just a campus atmosphere, it’s a very spread-out university, so we’ll be working closely with the city of Boston, as I did at the airport.”
“This is a broad-scope initiative to see how we make ourselves better and safer as a university,” Robbins says. “Scott Pare is going to work with everyone, internally and externally, to make sure everyone is as safe as they can be.”
Jessica Ullian can be reached at jullian@bu.edu.
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