Jackson State University’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) Chief Herman Horton was recently voted the region six vice-president of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Law Enforcement Executives and Administrators (LEEA), Inc., during the 2023 HBCU LEEA annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“We are very fortunate to have Chief Herman Horton leading the JSU Department of Public Safety. He is a leader who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way,” said Vance Siggers, Ph.D., interim executive director of JSU Campus Operations.
Horton is the first director of JSU DPS to hold this position and will represent all HBCU campus law enforcement/public safety in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana during his two-year term.
He is replacing Chief Xavier Redmond of Mississippi Valley State University, who retired in June 2023. Horton congratulated Redmond on his retirement and has known him since 1998, when they met during a training course in Jackson.
Horton said it is an honor to be nominated by his peers to represent campus law enforcement and public safety. During his tenure, one of his primary goals will be to increase membership among the 30-plus HBCUs he represents.
“My vision, as well as the vision of our newly elected president of the HBCU LEEA, Chief Debra Williams of Clark-Atlanta University, is that of ensuring all HBCU law enforcement and public safety know they have a seat at the table and information-sharing is vital to growth and opportunity of the HBCU LEEA,” Horton said. “Since joining the HBCU LEEA last year and attending last year’s conference, I gained so much insight surrounding resources available to HBCU law enforcement and public safety.”
Horton noted that the organization is truly a family. This was evidenced by the support the JSU DPS received during the September 2023 water crisis from then-president of the HBCU LEEA, Ruth Evans, including Chief Mary Young (Texas Southern University), Chief Jocelyn Johnson (Southern University), and Chief Montrez Payton (Alabama A&M University).
“Their display of selfless service to us was a true testament to the meaning of family, and I am proud to be a member of such an exceptional organization,” he said.
The HBCU LEEA is a nonprofit 501c3 national organization of police chiefs, executives, and security directors that advances campus public safety for its students attending the 107 HBCU educational institutions nationally.
Most HBCU campus police departments are certified police agencies with sworn police officers. These officers are certified through their respective states, as are other local police departments.
In 1999, the concept of the HBCU-LEEA was born when a group of concerned campus police chiefs and campus public safety directors reached a consensus on the need to organize for information-sharing and collectively address mutual challenges.
The HBCU-LEEA was an idea tossed around in Atlanta for years until a meeting was held at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta to discuss issues germane to HBCU institutions during the summer of 1999. The group formalized and elected A.J. White as president. In 2000, White (Clark Atlanta University) organized the first formal meeting to establish the organization of Police Chiefs and Public Safety Directors from HBCU institutions nationwide.
Horton is also a member of the Mississippi Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.