{"id":83684,"date":"2018-06-13T10:38:25","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T14:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//?p=83684"},"modified":"2022-07-29T14:20:23","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T18:20:23","slug":"hail-to-the-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//hail-to-the-chief/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684//","title":{"rendered":"Hail to the Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

On his most rewarding days at UCF, Police Chief Richard Beary /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201904MS was protecting football fans at Spectrum Stadium, interacting with K-9s or swearing in UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s newest police officers./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

On his worst, he was evacuating threatened students from Tower 1 residence hall./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

But through his 41 years in law enforcement, there/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s been one constant for Beary./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

He cared./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

And he has taught his officers to care./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cLaw enforcement is still a face-to-face business,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d Beary says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cI will ask my officers: /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2018Tell me what you did this week to show you cared,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019 and they share with me the things they did. As long as we care, and the public knows we care, this will be a great community. That/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s when you know we/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019re in a good place./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cAs long as we care, and the public knows we care, this will be a great community./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

The Lake Mary resident will retire this week after spending 11 years overseeing UCFPD, UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s Victim Services program and the Department of Security and Emergency Management. Combined with his 15 years of experience as chief of police for Lake Mary, he retires as the most tenured law enforcement executive in Central Florida./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cUnder Chief Beary/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s extraordinary leadership, the police force at UCF has become an innovative pacesetter for campus police organizations worldwide,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d UCF President John Hitt says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cHe has worked tirelessly to enhance safety, prevent crime, and strengthen ties among many campus and community stakeholders. The result is a better quality of life for UCF students, faculty, staff, and visitors./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

Call of Duty/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

Beary graduated from the police academy at Seminole State College in 1977 at the age of 18 as the youngest officer in Florida. So young, in fact, that he needed his parents to purchase his gun and bullets for him./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

But his first glimpse of life in public service happened well before then./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

His father, Ray, was the chief of Maitland and Winter Park, and his older brother, Kevin, was the former Orange County sheriff./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

As a child, Beary remembers many nights hanging around the Bearys/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019 kitchen table where his father plotted raids alongside members from local organized-crime units./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cWhen you grow up around it and you see that you/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019re supposed to help other people and supposed to support your community and do the right thing, you fall into that mindset,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d Beary says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201cIt/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019s what we/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u2019re supposed to do./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/83684/n