hief Larry K. James was appointed to lead the UCA Department of Public Safety in August of 1993 by former UCA President Winfred Thompson. In that same year the name of the department was changed to the UCA Police Department to better reflect the scope of assigned authority and responsibility of its police officers.
Chief James began his service career as a law enforcement officer nearly 35 years ago when be became a police officer at San Jose State University in 1972. Chief James ascended through the ranks to become deputy chief of police on the 30,000 student campus in 1980. In 1988, he was appointed chief of the Department of Public Safety for the Portland Community College District serving more than 80,000 students across five campuses before moving to Arkansas and UCA.
In addition to his responsibilities as chief of police, Chief James also serves as the UCA Director of Emergency Management and reports directly to UCA President Allen Meadors. Chief James is actively involved in a number of professional organizations such as the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police where he served two terms as its president. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Criminal Justice Institute, University of Arkansas System, since his appointment in 2001 by former Governor Mike Huckabee.He is also actively involved in the International Association of Chiefs of Police where he regularly represents all Arkansas municipal and university police chiefs at bi-annual meetings of the IACP division of state associations of chiefs of police. Four times he has traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with the Arkansas Congressional delegation about critical law enforcement and public safety issues in Arkansas and throughout the country. He is also involved in the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the Police Executive Research Forum.
Chief James graduated with a bachelor of science degree from San Jose State University in 1973 and holds senior certification from the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
