UT Arlington Police Chief Robert Hayes to retire in 2013
Under Hayes’s leadership, the department achieved accreditation in 2006 through the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies and maintained that status.
ARLINGTON – UT Arlington Police Chief Robert Hayes, who has led the University’s fully accredited campus police department since 2001, has announced plans to retire this spring.
Chief Hayes has directed a staff of 138, including 38 sworn officers, and managed a budget of more than $5 million. After a distinguished, 45-year law enforcement career, Hayes will retire effective March 31, 2013.
A search for his successor will follow.
Under Hayes’s leadership, the department achieved accreditation in 2006 through the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies and maintained that status.
“Chief Hayes has elevated the UT Arlington Police Department to new levels of professionalism and excellence and has earned the respect of law enforcement colleagues across the nation,” said John Hall, the University’s vice president for administration and campus operations. “We all have benefited from his commitment to ensuring a safe campus environment and providing professional development opportunities to his staff.”
Michael J. Heidingsfield, director of police for The University of Texas System, said Chief Hayes’s service is distinguished by “grace and dignity that we would all do well to emulate.”
“If you know Bob Hayes, as I am privileged to know him, there is never a hint of doubt that this is a true professional who has freely given his life to public service and the mentoring of two generations of police officers,” Heidingsfield said. “Law enforcement in Texas and the state’s police community are better for the time that Chief Hayes gave to community service and public safety.”
An Air Force veteran, Hayes began his law enforcement career July 4, 1967, as a patrol officer in Beaumont, where he rose to the rank of deputy police chief. He later served as chief of the DeSoto Police Department; of the Del City, Oklahoma Police Department; and of the Houston Community College System Police Department.
Hayes earned his undergraduate degree in government from Lamar University and his master’s degree in Criminal Justice Management from Sam Houston State University. Chief Hayes also completed the Law Enforcement Executive Program at the University of Colorado, Denver and is a graduate of the FBI. National Academy at Quantico, Va.
Hayes said he will leave a UT Arlington police department that pledges to uphold the highest professional law enforcement standards and is committed to emergency preparedness.
“My proudest professional achievement was when our department attained accreditation – it ensures that you are doing the things you ought to be doing,” Hayes said. “I appreciate the opportunity I have had to mentor our command staff and all our supervisors and to provide training to our entire team.”
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Media contact: Kristin Sullivan, Kristinsul@uta.edu, 817-272-5364
The University of Texas at Arlington, www.uta.edu
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