Trevecca welcomes Lieutenant Wesley Neely as new director of campus security

By Kaleel Stewart

Staff Writer

Trevecca Security has a new officer on staff from the Mt. Juliet police department.

Lieutenant Wesley Neely, Director of Campus Security, started on Feb. 17 and will be responsible for overseeing the university’s safety operations.

Greg Dawson, who has served for eight years as Director of Campus Security has decided to take a step back to focus on family and has now become a first shift officer and will focus on training and developing Trevecca’s security team.

Neely worked with Security Chief James Hambrick at the Mt. Juliet police department and was contacted by him about the job at Trevecca. 

“He [Hambrick] called me, he just basically said, ‘Come see me. I got a job for you.’ Because he knew I was about to retire,” said Neely. 

The goal was hiring someone who had the ability to collaborate well with Chief Hambrick to help prepare for big emergencies and to keep the campus safe, according to Jessica Dykes, vice president and dean of student development. 

“He’s been through a lot of professional education. He has also done a lot of risk assessment. He’s done active shooter training for the force before he became a firearms instructor. He’s gone through that training… So we’re excited to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience and training,” she said.  “The fact that he was overtraining for Mount Juliet is a benefit to us. We believe that his skills can help us to be better prepared to respond in case of an emergency, which is a focus of ours.”

Neely has served in leadership positions across patrol, K-9 operations, investigations, and training and development. He is also a certified firearms and tactical instructor, and has trained officers in active shooter response, critical asset risk management, and best practices for law enforcement. 

His background also includes work with Security Assessment Facility Evaluation (S.A.F.E.) LLC, a consulting firm he founded in 2018 to conduct risk assessments for businesses and organizations.

“I started in the police department in 1987… started as a patrolman, worked my way up through the ranks. I was the training and development and professional wellness program commander. I was a youth guidance officer, ran the detective division for about three years, got promoted to lieutenant.” said Neely.

With the transition, Neely said that he is trying to acclimate himself to everything that needs to be done. 

“It’s not the same as law enforcement, but that’s in a good way, the way things operate, the operations are a little different, and the responsibilities [are too],” said Neely. 

Dykes said she’s particularly excited about Neely’s experience in education and training. 

“It’s my hope that our Lieutenant Neely can continue to enhance what we’re doing to try to keep campus safe. Chief Hambrick always says that an informed and educated campus is a safer campus, and so we are really wanting to make sure our students know what to do in case of an emergency, to have a team ready to respond,” Dykes said.