For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.

August 19, 1998

SIMONE POLK NAMED DIRECTOR
OF PUBLIC SAFETY AT WRIGHT STATE

Simone G. Polk has been named director of public safety at Wright State University. She is the department's sixth director, and oversees a staff of 25.

Polk came to Wright State as public safety's associate director 17 months ago from Cleveland State University where she had been a law enforcement officer for 16 years. For the past six months, she has been interim director of the department.

A lawyer, police officer and administrator, Polk has studied law from a number of vantage points. She received her J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University and was admitted to the Ohio State Bar Association in 1996. Her master's in public administration degree is also from Cleveland State University. She holds a B.A. in criminal justice and sociology from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Because she has the ability to understand the prosecutor's and the defense attorney's job from a lawyer's point of view, Polk can anticipate how they will view a case and how they might interpret the law.

"My law degree gives me a third perspective on each case. I'm not only a law enforcement officer and administrator," said Polk. "This allows me to think more globally and critically about all of the legal issues that the Department of Public Safety will entertain."

An advocate of community policing, Polk embraces the idea of community and police working together to solve crime-related issues on campus. The department's mission, according to Polk, is to ensure that the campus community is a safe place for students, faculty and staff to live, learn and work. As the collaborative relationship between the department and the university community develops, Polk's vision includes residence and campus watch teams comparable to those common in neighborhoods.

"Simone Polk's educational background in law and administration combined with her extensive experience in safety and police work in the collegiate environment defined her as uniquely qualified for this position," said Dan Abrahamowicz, vice president for student affairs. "In the year and a half Simone has been at Wright State, I have been particularly impressed by her work ethic and her commitment to quality service for the students, faculty and staff of the university."

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