Tigerville, SC - “Security” magazine announced its “2019 Most Influential People in Security.” Twenty-six top security executives and industry leaders were selected for positively impacting the security field, their organization, their colleagues and peers, and the national and global security landscape. North Greenville University (NGU) Campus Security Chief Rick Lee Morris was one of the twenty-six chosen.
The security leaders were nominated by their colleagues and associates and were chosen based upon their leadership qualities and overall positive impact on stakeholders, enterprises, colleagues, constituents, and the general public.
This year’s “Most Influential” is organized by the following categories: corporate security executives, cybersecurity, government, universities, associations, and special recognition.
The NGU campus security department is an armed, para-law enforcement agency, offering 24/7 on-duty service, protection, and law enforcement. The agency employs 13 full-time officers, most with specialized skills, including one K-9 Officer with a certified police detector dog, a full-time certified training officer, and seven work-study students.
Morris was instrumental in developing a campus Joint Dispatch system, a collaborative effort involving NGU Campus Security, the Furman University Police Department and Queens University of Charlotte, NC to provide 24-hour dispatch capability to all three agencies. , was the first, where three different agencies share dispatch services. By splitting the cost, the much-needed officer lifeline became a reality.
“When I came to this office 18 years ago, it consisted of an office clerk/traffic enforcement officer, a night watchman on the midnight shift, and myself,” Morris says. “Today, as a proprietary security agency, state statutes grant my officers the same powers of arrest and authority as a deputy sheriff. We have officers that train regularly with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Being located in a rural area, we are 30 minutes away from tactical assistance from local law enforcement, so our training is based on the first-on-scene, first-in concept.”
Morris mentors each officer under his supervision and shares his wisdom and knowledge to ensure that the officer understands the commitment and skills needed for the job. He then works to get the required training and helps the officer to study and grow.
He is a graduate of the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, graduating second in his class in 1993. He is a member of the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, National Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriffs’ Association, South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and National Association of Campus Safety Administrators. He is also a certified Glock Armorer and twice received a successful completion certificate from Front Sight Firearms Training Institute.
Before NGU, Morris was chief of security for the Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities in Greenville, a security officer at Furman University in Greenville, where he rose to the rank of master patrolman, and a paramedic for Greenville County, receiving the Paramedic of the Year Award in 1980. In 2018, he was named the National Association of Campus Safety Administrators Chief of the year in the non-sworn category.
