Starting this semester, Oswego State has a newly-appointed interim chief of University Police, Kevin Velzy.

Velzy was the assistant chief of UP from 2013 until John Rossi, the former chief, retired last year. Velzy will remain as acting chief until senior leadership at the college decides on a candidate to fill the position permanently.

“Kevin Velzy has had a distinguished career here at Oswego with over 30 years of service at the college,” Nicholas Lyons, the vice president of administration and finance at Oswego, who oversees UP, said in an email. “We are very fortunate to have a person of his credentials here at Oswego.”

Velzy said he remains committed to the mission of UP to provide excellent law enforcement service to the Oswego community, as well as plans to increase diversity at UP, increase outreach to student organizations and increase training to better equip officers for responding to mental health emergencies.

“More and more people are struggling with coping and dealing with everyday problems, particularly when you’re going to college. There’s stressors,” Velzy said. “We used to transport maybe one or two people a year to mental health, and now it’s gotten to be almost every week.”

Some UP officers have already received training for mental health, which Velzy said he would like all officers to receive. The training helps officers learn strategies for handling situations where someone is experiencing issues with mental health and ways to help ensure the situation is resolved safely for everyone involved.

Velzy first came to the Oswego State campus as a freshman student in the fall of 1979, where he studied business management and eventually earned both his bachelor’s degree and master’s of business management at Oswego State.

“Never thought I’d still be here, to say nothing about being in this position,” Velzy said. “I jokingly tell the students coming into orientation for the first time that I know where all the hiding places are. It’s personal for me. I love Oswego and I chose to make it my home.”

Velzy said he would like to continue this connection to the Oswego campus by inviting students and organizations to come to him and talk about concerns or ask questions about campus safety.

“Come talk to me, my door’s always open,” Velzy said. “I’m busy, but I’ll make time for everyone and anyone. I’d like to meet with all the student leaders, different organizations, and give them a tour of the department and see what concerns they have.”

Velzy said UP wants to work with student groups and collaborate to benefit the campus community. Maintaining the relationship between campus law enforcement and students is important to Velzy, one in which he said is a “two-way street” and that he hoped student organizations would invite UP to their events.

“We’re always working with students on events, whether it’s to raise money for a charity or any idea that anybody has to get together. I’d like to see that happen more,” Velzy said. “Drop us an email, say, ‘We’d love to have you at our event,’ and we’ll send somebody.”

While Velzy began his professional life in business, he said he long had a passion for law enforcement, leading him to his decades-long career in police work with University Police. Velzy worked for nine years as a UP patrol officer, then worked as a police lieutenant from 1998 until his promotion to assistant chief in 2013.

“I’m happy to be here and I encourage people to stop by, tell me what’s on their mind,” Velzy said. “If they have any problems, we can work together to solve them.”

Photo provided by the Oswego State Office of Communications