New DPS director pushes for community-style and student-centric policing

Dr. Rich Flotron has been named the new director of the department of public safety (DPS) and said he aims to take a “student-centric” approach to his new position.

Flotron started his new position on Aug. 1 He is a SEMO alumnus and former president of Sigma Nu who has worked in law enforcement for over 20 years.

Flotron said that after graduating in 1997, he started working as an immigration agent in Detroit, Michigan. Later, he went to Jefferson Couty Seriff’s office until 2002, when he started working at Mineral Area College.

“I started out as the training coordinator for the Law Enforcement Academy there, and in 2004, I became the Department of Public Safety or the campus police chief. And then I was also the Director of Law Enforcement Training for 22 years.” Flotron said. “And so I left in [2022]. I went into the corporate world at the beginning of this year and it was not for me, and I was more like the law enforcement training, corporate side of it. I rapidly changed directions and went back into law enforcement. So I went back to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office until I came here.”

Despite the various jobs Flotron has previously pursued, he said he had always dreamed of returning to SEMO.

Starting his new position as DPS director, Flotron said that he intends to build relationships with the officers who work for him, faculty, and students to make DPS function more like a police department.

“I want to see about possibly changing some of the dynamics of the department. I know it's a part of public safety, so you have to take this kind of with a grain of salt, but, I want to make it more run like a police department.” Flotron said.

Flotron said that he would like to use more “community-style policing” to make DPS operate more similarly to a police department.

Wilson College claims that community-style policing encourages officers to have closer relationships and a bigger presence in the community they serve.

While community-style policing is a new idea that Flotron brings to the table, many wonder how the new DPS director will handle potential new security measures.

Prior to Flotron being hired, this past May, two people were shot at a high school graduation ceremony held at the Show Me Center. There were no metal detectors or security wands, so the shooter was easily able to bring a gun onto the premises.

While no one was killed, the shooting highlighted the lack of security measures in many of SEMO’s facilities.

While Flotron has not discussed any specific ideas, he said he intends to update security measures once he has reviewed the current policies.

“It's always better to be prepared and not need something than need something and not be prepared for it. So I'm big on working with the officers that are here and working with the command staff that's here.” Flotron said. “I really need an opportunity to sit down and really look at what's in place already. We can always get better. That's just anywhere you go you can always be better. So, I wanted to take a look at some things. There's been a couple of little things that I've seen just in the past couple of days about some different policies, or lack thereof, that I would really like to have an opportunity to address.”

Flotron said that he aims to center DPS around SEMO's students and faculty and focus heavily on communication between the department and the students.

“I want to build a culture of positivity. I want to build a culture of motivation, valuing employees, valuing students… I want to build a department that I would be proud of. And I tell the officers, I want an opportunity to build this department and turn it into the department that we want and that we need. I'm progressive, and my ideas of policing, I truly follow, kind of the more empathetic style of policing,” Flotron said.