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New DPS interim director announces goals for the future
Richard Turkiewicz's goals include online permit buying and the possibility of a parking structure
by Trevor Davis | News Reporter
The new interim director of the Department of Public Safety may be at the University temporarily, but Richard Turkiewicz said he has plenty of goals he wants to achieve, including improving parking services for students and staff.
After 18 years as the Director of Public Safety and Police at the University of Central Florida, Turkiewicz started his job as interim director of DPS in early March. Former Interim Director Tom Hicks resigned from his three-year interim director position at the end of December. Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke previously told the Emerald she selected Turkiewicz because of his experience. He brings almost 34 years in campus law enforcement and 43 years total in law enforcement to the University.
"I don't think there's any case I haven't seen," Turkiewicz said. He said his experiences include the death of a fellow officer, homicide, abduction and assault on professors.
Turkiewicz said he got into law enforcement by accident.
"I never had any inclination of going into law enforcement," he said.
Turkiewicz joined the New York State Police after working as an engineering aide and going to college. He said he worked a variety of jobs with the state police in New York. He got his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Originally a kid who "grew up on the wrong side of the tracks" and skipped school, Turkiewicz said a stint in the Navy helped discipline him. He said he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do but said he knew he always wanted to help people.
"You have to have a service mentality and want to help others," he said. "You go into law enforcement for the challenges, for the excitement, but the bottom line is that you want to help people."
He answered the call to transfer from the state police to campus law enforcement in the early 1970s, because he wanted to earn a master's degree in social science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
After 18 years as the Director of Public Safety and Police at the University of Central Florida, Turkiewicz started his job as interim director of DPS in early March. Former Interim Director Tom Hicks resigned from his three-year interim director position at the end of December. Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke previously told the Emerald she selected Turkiewicz because of his experience. He brings almost 34 years in campus law enforcement and 43 years total in law enforcement to the University.
"I don't think there's any case I haven't seen," Turkiewicz said. He said his experiences include the death of a fellow officer, homicide, abduction and assault on professors.
Turkiewicz said he got into law enforcement by accident.
"I never had any inclination of going into law enforcement," he said.
Turkiewicz joined the New York State Police after working as an engineering aide and going to college. He said he worked a variety of jobs with the state police in New York. He got his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Originally a kid who "grew up on the wrong side of the tracks" and skipped school, Turkiewicz said a stint in the Navy helped discipline him. He said he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do but said he knew he always wanted to help people.
"You have to have a service mentality and want to help others," he said. "You go into law enforcement for the challenges, for the excitement, but the bottom line is that you want to help people."
He answered the call to transfer from the state police to campus law enforcement in the early 1970s, because he wanted to earn a master's degree in social science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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