With a new chief of police at the helm, Penn's Division of Public Safety has promoted a number of officials from within and been reorganized in order to put additional emphasis on emergency preparedness.
The reorganization was undertaken by Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush, who recently hired Mark Dorsey as police chief for the University of Pennsylvania Police Department.
As part of the reorganization, Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Fink has been assigned to the newly created post of deputy chief of tactical and emergency readiness. In this position, Fink will co-chair the "University City Emergency Preparedness Steering Team," as well as be responsible for improving all aspects of the University's emergency preparedness and reaction plans.
"Emergency preparedness is right up there with crime prevention," Rush said of the department's priorities. She added, "We recognized that we needed to do more in the field with the community."
According to Rush, Fink will "report primarily to the chief of police, but will have a dotted line to the chief of fire and emergency services, Ted Bateman."
Fink will therefore help coordinate between the police and fire and emergency services wings of Public Safety.
Also as part of the reorganization, former Lt. Gerald Leddy has been appointed to the new position of captain of staff and administrative services.
Also reporting directly to Dorsey, Leddy will oversee all staff and administrative functions, as well as be in charge of accreditation, training, recruitment, security planning for special events and coordination of the Research and Planning units of the UPPD.
Additionally, former Sgt. Joseph Fischer has been assigned to a new captain position and will also report directly to Dorsey. According to Rush, this is essentially an expansion of Fischer's current role in the crime prevention unit and as a University liaison.
According to a Public Safety press release, Fischer will "be responsible for the daily operations, staffing, visibility and accountability in the Penn Police Patrol Section," including the University Liaison Unit.
Finally, Joseph Hasara, a former tactical supervisor, has been promoted to tactical commander. As such, he will be responsible for the emergency response team, as well as the firearms and tactical training programs.
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