After his first month on the job, things are going pretty smoothly for University Police Chief Paul E. Norris, Jr.
With more than 25 years of experience in campus law enforcement, Norris left his post as head of the Indiana University Police Department to replace Michael Sheffield Aug. 1.
"I had applied for jobs at other places in the past couple of years," Norris said. "But of all the places, I felt this was the one place that really didn't have anything that was broken or needed to be fixed, and that impressed me. The main thing that I would like to do is maintain that high standard of quality that's already been established."
As chief, Norris has taken over a department with a staff of 133, including 65 full-time sworn officers, and an annual budget of $4 million. At Indiana, he commanded a force of 108 and received accolades for encouraging officers to earn their undergraduate degrees.
"To me it seems to be only common sense that if you're working at an educational institution, that you would try to promote education within your own department," he said. "As law enforcement officers I think one of the ways we can continue to upgrade and professionalize our profession is to pursue an education. You can really help the profession itself, as well as helping yourself, by taking advantage of educational opportunities."
Though University administrators and students continue to speak highly of Sheffield, who served as chief for 17 years, officials said they welcome Norris to the community and look forward to working with him.
"Paul's impressive record, leadership style and commitment to excellence fits well with what I consider to be an exceptionally high-quality police department here at the University of Virginia," said Leonard W. Sandridge, University executive vice president and chief operations officer, upon the May announcement of Norris's appointment.
Since his move to Charlottesville, Norris has been acclimating himself to the University environment, including the workings of the department, the University Medical Center, infrastructure of the honor system, proper use of the Student Escort Service and safety concerns around Grounds. He survived his first main challenge last weekend, overseeing security at last week's Richmond-U.Va. football game, unscathed.
"I'm fortunate to come into a situation where I have people within the department who have done these things for years, who are very experienced and professional," he added. "I'm very impressed with the people that are here in the department and people we have to work with outside the department"
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