Volume 35, No. 2 - March/April 2005 Campus Law ... - IACLEA

Member News
Chiefly Speaking, Hall’s Paid Her Dues at EMU
New top cop on campus, Cindy Hall has spent 25 years with the department
By Janet Miller, News Staff Reporter
Police Chief Cindy Hall with EMU Officer
Hardesty. Photo courtesy of The Ann Arbor
News.
Reprinted with permission from The Ann
Arbor News, 11/8/2004 .
Cindy Hall still hasn’t moved most of her
belongings into her new office, and the
title of chief still seems foreign. But in
some ways, Hall has spent 25 years preparing
to head the Department of Public
Safety at Eastern Michigan University.
Hall, 47, was recently named chief,
becoming the first woman to head the
EMU department and the only female to
lead a police department in Washtenaw
County, although the State Police Post in
Ypsilanti has a woman commander.
Hall, who joined Eastern’s department
as a patrol officer in 1979, oversees a staff
of 25 sworn officers and is in charge of
the university’s parking and health-andsafety
operations.
Hall worked as a security guard while
attending Washtenaw Community College
after she graduated from Huron High
School in the 1970s, never dreaming that
she would someday be a police chief.
But when the post became vacant last
summer with the retirement of John
McAuliffe, Hall applied.
“I knew I had the education, the skills
and the dedication,” she said. “It seemed
like the natural progression.”
Things looked different earlier in her
career at EMU. After working a few years
with the department, Hall thought there
was little hope to move up the ranks.
She decided to attend law school at night,
with an eye on becoming a lawyer. But
midway through law school at the University
of Toledo, she was promoted to
sergeant, and was given the chance to
develop crime prevention programs.
She started the SEEUS – Student Eyes
and Ears for University Safety – where
two-member teams of students escort
other students around campus in the
evening. Today, 40 students work for
SEEUS, wearing bright yellow jackets
emblazoned with a large eye logo, escorting
students from between 6 p.m. and
3 a.m.
Eventually, Hall was made lieutenant
and then captain. She has served as associate
director of public safety since 1989.
Hall’s long service and solid record
made her a good choice for chief, said
John Beaghan, interim vice president for
business and finance. “She has the credentials,
the experience and really campus-wide
support,” he said.
Hall works well with students, said Jim
Vick, vice president for student affairs.
“She has a style and demeanor that are
terrific. She’s calm and rational, and she’s
very cognizant of the ramifications of
decisions. ... And she understands our students.”
Working in campus law enforcement
for more than two decades, Hall has witnessed
a parade of highs and lows. While
there was never a homicide, there have
been suicides, she said. She’s responded
to large and unruly parties, broken up
fights and sat watch in dark parking structures,
keeping an eye out for trouble.
She’s also offered police protection to
President Bill Clinton, U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas and Michigan
Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Policing the 24,000-student campus is
like policing a city, she said.
“We have the same issues as a municipality
– we have larcenies and sexual
assaults and aggravated assaults,” she said.
“But there’s also more of an opportunity
to do community police work and crime
prevention.”
Janet Miller can be reached at
jmiller@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-
6827.
MARCH/APRIL 2005 / 9