Maureen S. Rush is the Vice President for Public Safety and Superintendent of the Penn Police Department. Ms. Rush joined the Division of Public Safety in 1994 as the Director of Victim Support & Special Services. Ms. Rush then served as the Chief of the Penn Police Department from 1996 through 2000. She was appointed Vice President for Public Safety at the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. As the CEO of the agency her duties include directing the tactical and strategic focus of the Division of Public Safety and all aspects of Law Enforcement, Safety and Security Technology, and Emergency Preparedness. She is responsible for managing a budget of over $27 million dollars and encompassing eight departments totaling 179 Penn employees. The departments include: The Office of the Vice President, the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, Security Technology, Emergency Communications, Fire & Emergency Services, Special Services, Security Services and Finance & Administration. The Division of Public Safety also employs approximately 550 AlliedBarton contract security officers to secure buildings, student residences and supplement the Penn Police Department on street patrol within the Penn Police patrol jurisdiction. The Division of Public Safety is responsible for all Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Planning for the University.
During her tenure the Penn’s Police Department evolved into a model campus law enforcement agency, continually meeting the challenges faced by an urban university, while at the same time strengthening its relationships with the Penn and West Philadelphia communities, and with the City of Philadelphia. With 120 police officers, the Penn Police Department is the largest private police department in the state of Pennsylvania. In March 2001, the Penn Police Department was awarded national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), becoming the first nationally accredited campus police agency within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Penn Police Department remains accredited through CALEA, most recently being awarded ADVANCED Reaccreditation in April, 2016. CALEA administers a rigorous accreditation process whereby law enforcement agencies must adhere to over 440 standards, codes and state-of-the-art practices.
Prior to coming to the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Rush had a distinguished eighteen-year law enforcement career with the Philadelphia Police Department from 1976 through 1994. Ms. Rush served in various positions, namely: the Patrol Division, the Anti-Crime Unit, the Traffic Division, the Narcotics Unit, and the Training Bureau. In 1976, Ms. Rush was one of the first 100 women police officers hired to serve the City of Philadelphia on “street patrol” in a pilot program directed by the United States Department of Justice. Women now comprise twenty-five percent of the Philadelphia Police Department, with approximately 1,650 officers, as a result of that successful pilot program.