Paul Denton, Chief of The Ohio State University Police Division, and Paul Turner, Director of Event Operations and Security for the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium, will each be presented the Distinguished Leadership Award during the 2015 National Sports Safety and Security Conference and Exhibition on July 6-9 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Sponsored by Allied Telesis, the 2015 Distinguished Leadership Award recognizes a professional in the field whose career includes multiple achievements and contributions with respect to sport safety and security.

At Ohio State, Denton reorganized the Division launching a crime analysis and problem oriented approach to address campus crime issues. Under Chief Denton the agency earned accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies. Chief Denton has successfully directed public safety operations for major campus events such as football games, political campaigns and other dignitary visits. He has worked as a member of the exercise design team and evaluator for tabletop, functional and full-scale emergency exercises on local and county-wide levels.

Denton served more than 28 years with the Columbus Division of Police and retired with the rank of commander before his appointment as chief at The Ohio State University Police Division. Chief Denton holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Xavier University; a Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree from Tiffin University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Youngstown State University. He attended the 194th session of the FBI National Academy and received certificates in the Certified Law Enforcement Executive (CLEE) and Police Executive Leadership College (PELC) programs.

In 2014, Denton served on the US Department of Education’s Violence Against Women’s Act-Negotiated Rule Making Committee and was a panelist to a series of roundtable discussions on combating rape and sexual assaults on college campuses hosted by members of the U.S. Senate. Chief Denton serves on numerous campus, community and professional work groups including an appointment by the governor to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission and as past Chair of the Franklin County Chiefs Association. Additionally, Denton is a subject matter expert for the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security.

Paul Turner has 25 years of experience in the public assembly facilities industry. He has developed and led numerous guest and event services operations in performing arts centers, arenas and stadiums. Turner is well known for developing industry best practices for event management, security and venue operations. He has created many training and development programs and is a regular presenter at industry meetings and conferences.

With the Dallas Cowboys, Turner oversees event management, event and venue security, and public services for all events at AT&T Stadium. He was part of the stadium planning group during construction and was responsible for the development of the stadium operations department. Since its opening in 2009, AT&T Stadium has been recognized as one of the world’s premiere sports and entertainment venues and is host to marquee events including the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV and the 2014 NCAA Final Four. Before joining the Cowboys, he had previously held positions with the NFL Philadelphia Eagles, the NBA Portland Trailblazers and the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Southern California.

Turner is chair of the Stadiums Committee for the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), a faculty member for the Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS) and the Venue Management School. Currently, Turner chairs the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security Certification Commission. He is a Certified Facilities Executive (CFE) and has recently attained his certified sport security professional certification.

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