The Man Behind the Mustache
Is there anyone on campus who hasn’t talked to Chief Greene at least once or twice as he walked through Haggar or the Cap Bar?
He is a staple of The University of Dallas’ campus, always there to make students laugh and feel safe. But how much do students actually know about our beloved police chief? In this week’s Humans of UD series, The Cor Chronicle will be introducing everyone to the man behind the badge.
Chief Greene was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, which is the northwestern part of the state. He attended one year at Niagara University before transferring and getting his degree from Le Moyne college.
Chief said that he always wanted to be in law enforcement since he was a little boy. He said that the sheriff’s deputies in Onondaga County would work traffic at St Joseph’s church in Camillus, New York and when he saw those guys, he thought, “Oh, man, that’s the job I want to have.”
Despite his desire to be a police officer, Chief Greene wore many hats and worked many different jobs before becoming one. He owned his own company for a short time and worked as a sales manager, a sales representative, a sales engineer, a marketing manager and, according to Chief, “allegedly” a chef! Who knew that our police chief had experience in so many different things?
Chief Greene was a reserve officer for a short time in a little town outside Buffalo, New York. He said that the moment he really decided to become a police officer was after he was called to protect an abortion clinic from abortion protests.
He said that having to defend something that he disagreed with was “ethically challenging”, but he realized that he had a job to do. He also realized that he wanted to be paid for the job that he was doing. Two years later, in 1994, he became a rookie police officer in Arlington, Texas.
Chief Greene said that his favorite thing about working at UD is interacting with students. He said that he enjoys being a grandfather figure to the students and being able to protect and support them. He said that it is an amazing thing to watch students grow up, mature and give him a big hug at the end of the stage at graduation.
When asked about his funniest stories from being a part of UDPD, he said that one year some guys took all the clothes out of another boy’s room and replaced them with women’s clothing. The guys left the clothes on the roof of Haggar so Chief Greene found them.
Apparently, the pranked student retaliated by taking the door of the pranksters condo and leaving it by the tower. Chief Greene insisted very strongly that even though he thought it was funny, he does not recommend that and that no students should follow that example!
When asked about his hobbies outside of work, Chief Greene said that he enjoys working out a lot, but other than that he does whatever his wife says he should do for fun. He mentioned that he and his wife eat out a lot and go to concerts together. He said that his daughters are in their thirties, which leaves a lot of time for him and his wife to do things together.
When asked what the best piece of advice he could give to UD students was, Chief Greene said that he had two things to say to the students: UDPD is here to protect the students and the UDPD officers care about the students’ welfare.
The other piece of advice that Chief Greene had for students is that they should make mature decisions. He said that UDPD receives many background checks for students throughout each week. He said that sometimes when you are 18 you don’t realize that your actions could really affect your future.
Chief Greene cares strongly about the students on UD’s campus and mentioned several times how protective he feels about the student body. We are so lucky to have such a friendly, caring and hardworking police chief on campus! Next time you see Chief Greene make sure to say hi or give him a wave.