The eighth chief of police started at Central Michigan University on July 1. Cameron Wassman gained his new title over a month ago, but this is not his first job with the CMU Police Department.

Wassman has held four positions, now, at CMU. He began his career 25 years ago as a patrol officer and served in that role for five years. He then moved to being a sergeant for five years, before becoming a lieutenant for 15 years.

Becoming Chief of Police at CMU was the biggest step in Wassman's career, and he said he was excited for the new position and its importance.

"Each chief has left it in a better place than when they started. People ask about legacy, and ultimately, I want to leave this place better than when I found it," Wassman said.

Plans as Chief

Wassman said he does not have any big plans for change at the moment, as he believes, “we as a department are already on a great path.”

According to Wassman, his biggest priority is ensuring the safety of the students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus. Wassman breaks safety into three terms:

Planning: Being prepared for bad things that may happen, and how the university and police department will respond.
Education: Making sure every community member knows how to keep themselves safe. The run, hide, fight concept is a good example of this.
Enforcement: Ensuring people who are breaking the law or harming the community are handled correctly to protect the community.

As for education, the police department and other groups on campus have taken a more active role in emergency management, according to Wassman.

“We’ve been part of developing a university-wide emergency management team that now meets frequently and does exercises a few times a year, so we definitely want to build upon that,” Wassman said. “I also want to continue to increase the amount of outreach and education that we do.”

Another priority for Wassman is building trust within the community.

“Trust is a major thing when it comes to law enforcement. The community needs to trust us, which means we need to act professionally and be prepared to do the things we need to do in order to help build that trust,” Wassman said. “Transparency is part of that too, and I’m happy to talk with anybody about why we do what we do.”

CMU Career

While at CMU, Wassman said each of his positions he has held has its perks.

“There are pluses and minuses to every position … certainly the most fun positions are working as a patrol officer or patrol sergeant, boots on the ground if you will. You’re out there patrolling and responding to calls,” Wassman said.

He said most of the action happens for patrol officers, but he also likes the responsibility and importance of his leadership roles.

“In the different leadership positions, I like being able to manage people and manage the department in the direction you want it; that has some enjoyable pieces as well," he said.

Chief of Police, he said is a big shift from his previous positions. Wassman compared his new position to that of a conductor of an orchestra.

“It is the top position of the department, so ultimately I am responsible for everything that happens in the police department and parking services,” he said. "To my benefit, I’ve got a great group of people that work here, a great team, and I have great confidence in what they can do, so it’s not like I’m doing everything, but ultimately I am responsible for everything.”

Beginning law Enforcement

Wassman did not always know he wanted to be involved in law enforcement. But he was sure that he wanted a career that would help people and leave a positive impact on others.

“A lot of people have family members who were in law enforcement, or maybe they knew since they were little kids they wanted to be a cop," he said. "That wasn't necessarily my case; it was really in my high school years, and I am not sure what made that click."

Wassman completed his undergraduate degree at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. There, he was a resident assistant for three years and worked in the college’s security department.

“Working in that kind of environment, I thought that would be an interesting take on law enforcement, versus working for a city or working for a county, so really that’s what drew me to apply here [CMU] and get hired," he said.