He wore dress blues for more than three decades with the London Police Service. Now Brent Shea is purple and proud as the new Director of Campus Community Police Service.
He takes the reins from Dan Redman who served in the role since 2016.
“I have always had a strong affinity with Western,” said Shea, who began his new role in mid-December. “Our family has had purple in our veins from the start.”
Shea, BA’80 (King’s University College), Honors Certificate’03 (King’s), MPA’09, and his wife Becky, BA’79 (King’s), met while on campus. His three sons – Adam, BA’05 (King’s), Cameron, BA’05 (King’s), and Dan, BA’07, JD’10 – are also proud Mustangs.
Shea retired from London Police Service in 2015 after a 35-year career (the last five as Deputy Chief). Today, he oversees a team of 27 campus police members, five fire safety workers, a Western Foot Patrol coordinator, as well as patrol and building evacuation teams of approximately 500 volunteers.
With strong feelings about community wellbeing, he sees his new role as having a similar slant as his old job – working to ensure a safe and secure environment for the students, faculty, staff and visitors.
“The size and complexity of Western mirrors a small city. Having said that, a substantive difference is a focus on wellness and behaviour education more so than law enforcement,” Shea said. “Western has numerous and varied resources available to assist campus members. It is a caring and responsive environment. Campus Police operates as a strong support within this response matrix.”
