Kevin Maguire in May was appointed Tufts' new director of Public and Environmental Safety.
Maguire assumed his position on June 20 from Vice President of Operations Dick Reynolds, who was serving as acting director while the search for a permanent officeholder was ongoing.
The application process was competitive with over 40 qualified applicants being considered, according to Reynolds. Former University President Lawrence Bacow interviewed the top two applicants extensively.
Maguire was chosen due to his degrees in both criminal justice and public administration, as well as his experience with safety in higher education institutions, Reynolds emphasized.
"Public safety on a college campus is very, very different and we would not have hired someone who was just a longtime municipal policeman," he said.
Maguire comes to the Hill following an extensive career in both community and educational public safety, with experience at Northeastern University and Simmons College. He also spent four years in the U.S. Air Force.
"My ultimate professional goal was to be the director of public safety at an institution like Tufts, which is a world−renowned research university and which has a wonderful reputation throughout the country and throughout the world," he said.
With this new appointment, Maguire is responsible for overseeing three safety−related departments at Tufts.
"His role includes the Tufts University Police Department, the environmental health and safety groups and emergency management," Reynolds said.
Environmental health and safety groups encompass a wide range of groups, including those that deal with chemical, radiation and lab safety, as well as environmental clean−up and occupational safety for staff, Reynolds explained. The emergency management division primarily deals natural disasters or other crises, such as shootings.
Maguire envisions public safety at Tufts as being based on community policing and participation; he also emphasized being involved in the day−to−day happenings of the campus and always being ready to help. Reynolds shared this view.
Maguire's main challenge, he said, will be to "maintain and move forward an already excellent public safety department, and over time become … more skilled at delivering excellent public safety services to the Tufts University community."
"We want to make the public safety department part of the community and not apart from it," Reynolds said.
Maguire brings a great deal of public safety experience to the Hill. He started out in the U.S. Air Force, after which he served the Boston Municipal Police Department for 14 years, rising to the rank of captain.
He then joined Northeastern University's Department of Public Safety as police captain, a job which he enjoyed for its warm and welcoming academic environment, a contrast to his career in the police force.
Maguire in 2003 become the first−ever public safety director for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), where he was responsible for the safety of hundreds of thousands of convention attendees. Maguire said that as director, he worked to transition the department from an in−house security staff to a fully trained public safety staff.
Current Chief of Public Safety for the MCCA Robert Noonan praised Maguire's abilities.
"In my years in public safety and security, there has been no one that has been better prepared and taught me more for my job," Noonan told the Daily. "Everything that was put into place in terms of public safety procedures and security procedures — he drafted that from scratch."
Maguire left the MCCA to take up his most recent position as director of public safety and chief of police at Simmons College.
"I missed the academic environment from my days at Northeastern," Maguire said.
John King was the last permanent holder of the public safety office and left in June 2010 after a 21−year tenure to serve as director of public safety at Boston College.
--
An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed the quote "We want to make the public safety department part of the community and not apart from it" to Vice President of Operations Dick Reynolds. The quote was actually said by Director of Public and Environmental Safety Kevin Maguire.
